fO  .  2 


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PRINCETON.  N.  J. 


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Purchased    by   the    Hamill    Missionary    Fund. 


BV  2060  .J7  1910 
Jones,  John  Peter,  1847 

1916. 
The  modern  missionary 


h  3  1  1  onrri 


The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 


By  JOHN  P.  JONES,  D.D. 


Lectures  delivered  at  Yale,  Oct.  1910 

The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 
12mo,  cloth,  net  $1. 60. 

A  resurvey  of  the  demand  of  missions  In  the  light  of 
progress  made.  In  their  relation  to  human  thought. 
The  new  demands,  the  new  difficulties,  the  now  incen- 
tives, are  all  considered  by  one  whose  expeiience  in 
the  field,  and  whose  experience  as  a  writer,  entitle 
him  to  consideration. 

India's  Problem,  Krishna  or  Christ 

Illustrated,  8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

"So  far  as  we  are  informed  there  is  at  present  no 
one  book  or  even  any  half-dozen  volumes,  that  gath- 
ers up  and  present,  in  attractive  and  readable  form  so 
much  that  is  interesting  and  valuable  to  the  student 
of  the  religions  of  India  and  the  relations  of  Chris- 
tianity to  them,  as  does  this  work." 

— Congregationalist . 


The  Modern   Missionary 
Challenge 


A  Study  of  the  Present  Day- 
World  Missionary  Enterprise 
Its    Problems     and    Results 


JOHN  P/jONES,  D.D. 

Author  of^'-  India's  Probletji^  Krishna  or  Christ^ 
"  India,^  Its  Life  and  Thought ^'^  etc. 


New  York         Chicago         Toronto 

Fleming    H.    Re  veil    Company 

London    and      Edinburgh 


Copyright,   1910,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  P>fth  Avenue 
Chicago:  80  Wabash  Avenue 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      100    Princes    Street 


Dedicated 

to 

all  Christian  Youth 

Who  Desire  to  Study  the  Missionary  Enterprise 

and 

Who  Wish  to  Accept  Intelligently 

God^s  Challenge 

for 

World-wide  Sermce 


The  people  that  walked  in  darkness  have  seen  a 
great  light. 

The7t  shall  thy  light  rise  in  darkness  and  thine 
obscurity  be  as  the  noonday. 

Arise y  shine ^  for  thy  light  has  come  and  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  is  risen  upon  thee. 

He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  be 
satisfied. 

Ask  of  Me  and  I  will  give  thee  the  nations  for  thine 
inheritance  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for 
thy  possession. 

I  a7n  the  Light  of  the  World. 

Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world. 

All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  Me  in  heaven 
and  on  earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of 
all  the  7iations  .  .  .  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  always 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. 

fehovah  hath  made  bare  His  holy  arm  in  the  eyes  of 
all  the  nations y  and  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  have  seen 
the  salvation  of  our  God. 

I  am  debtor  both  to  Greeks  and  to  Barbarians,  both 
to  the  wise  and  to  the  foolish. 

I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel ;  for  it  is  the  power 
of  God  tinto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth. 

The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come.  And  he  that 
heareth,  let  him  say.  Come, 


Preface 

THE  substance  of  this  book  was  prepared  as 
a  course  of  lectures  which  were  in  part  de- 
livered before  the  Divinity  School  of  the 
Yale  University  and  before  Bangor  and  Oberlin 
Theological  Seminaries  in  the  autumn  of  1910. 

The  purpose  of  the  book  is  to  give  a  fresh  and 
modern  presentation  of  the  missionary  enterprise 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  missionary.  It  thus  fur- 
nishes a  discussion  of  the  problem  more  with  an  eye 
to  the  mission  field  than  to  the  home  base. 

This  fact  probably  constitutes  the  strength  and 
also  the  weakness  of  the  book.  The  missionary 
may  be  too  near  and  too  much  a  part  of  the  mis-* 
sionary  work  to  possess  a  right  perspective  of  the 
work  as  a  whole.  He  is  necessarily  confined  to  one 
field  which  largely  absorbs  his  sympathies  and  con- 
stitutes his  deepest  interest.  For  years  at  a  time 
other  parts  of  the  world  are  practically  beyond  his 
horizon.  So  that  his  judgment  upon  the  general 
work  may  be  inadequate  and  warped  and  his  gen- 
eral conclusions  unsafe. 

His  may  be  more  the  glowing  vision  and  stirring 
call  of  the  prophet  rather  than  the  sane  conclusions 
of  the  statesman. 

But  these  are  days  when  prophet  and  statesman 

7 


8  Preface 

alike  need  to  be  represented  in  our  missionary  liter- 
ature. 

I  claim,  however,  to  have  enjoyed,  the  last  two 
years,  an  unusual  opportunity,  during  my  many 
thousand  miles  of  travel  among  the  home  churches, 
to  come  into  closer  touch  with  the  missionary 
problem  as  a  whole  and  to  study  it  also  in  its  home 
aspect. 

I  have  taken  the  whole  non-Christian  world  as 
the  illustrative  background  of  the  present  discussion. 
It  is,  of  course,  inevitable  that,  here  again,  my  own 
field  of  work,  India,  will  figure  more  conspicuously 
than  any  other  country. 

It  is  difficulty  in  these  days  of  progressive  thought 
and  life,  to  maintain  the  right  balance  between  old 
and  new  ideas  in  the  missionary  enterprise.  This 
great  work  is  rapidly  changing  its  issues  and  its 
emphases.  It  is  therefore  important  that  one  ex- 
plain and  impress  this  adequately  upon  the  reader. 
It  may  be  that  I  have  been  too  anxious,  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  to  emphasize  the  new  aspect  of  things 
and  the  up-to-date  claims  of  our  missionary  work. 
If  I  have  erred  in  dwelling  too  much  upon  this,  I 
trust  that  I  have  not  allowed  it  to  overshadow  the 
presentation  of  that  unchanging  element  in  the  prob- 
lem— the  supreme  need  of  the  world  for  the  same 
old  sovereign  remedy  of  salvation  in  a  crucified,  a 
risen  and  a  ruling  Lord. 

I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  present,  as  an  appendix,  a 
valuable  series  of  statistical  tables,  and  I  here  call  at- 
tention to  the  preface  which  I  have  placed  before  these. 


Preface  9 

I  desire  to  express  here  my  appreciation  of  the 
light  and  inspiration  received  by  me  in  the  recent 
World  Missionary  Conference  at  Edinburgh.  It  is 
not  only  that  the  masterly  reports  of  the  eight  com- 
missions, with  the  discussion  thereon,  brought  light 
and  intelligence  concerning  all  the  field  and  every 
subject  pertaining  to  the  work;  the  whole  atmos- 
phere of  that  wonderful  gathering  was  so  surcharged 
with  inspiration  and  imparted  such  an  uplift  that  I 
am  sure  the  following  pages  will,  in  many  ways,  di- 
rectly and  indirectly,  reflect  it. 

The  author  bespeaks  the  kindly  sympathy  and 
patience  of  the  reader,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
book  is  the  product  of  leisure  moments  stolen  from 
the  strenuous  days  of  a  busy  "  furlough."  But 
he  has  put  his  best  into  it  in  the  brief  time  at  his 
command  and  prays  that  the  blessing  of  God  may 
follow  it  into  every  home  and  heart  and  bring  light 
and  blessing  to  many  who  need  it  concerning  the 
missionary  work,  so  that  the  great  missionary  cause 
may  have  free  course  and  be  glorified  among  all 
who  love  the  Lord  and  His  creatures  in  sincerity. 

J.  P.  JONES. 


Contents 


Its  Subjective  Source 

I.  The  Universal  Fatherhood  of  God  . 

II.  The  World  Saviour 

III.  The  Omnipresent,  Ever- Working  Spirit 

IV.  The  Universal  Religion  .         .         .     . 
V.  The  Unique  Religion 

VI.     The  World  Obligation  to  Service     . 
(a)  Outgoing  Love 
(p)  The  Lord's  Last  Commission    . 
(c)  The  Lord's  Example 
(/)  The  Adequacy  of  the  Resources 


15 

20 

25 

30 
33 
36 

39 

40 

42 
42 
43 


II. 


The  New  Conditions  Which  It  Furnishes     46 


I.     The  Modern  Christian  a  Cosmopolite 

(a)  Through  Scientific  Discoveries,  etc. 
(d)   Through  the  Habit  of  Travel 
(c)  Growing  Knowledge  of  the  World  . 
(d)  The  Commercial  Interest 
(if)   New  Study  of  Non-Christian  Faiths 
(/)  Universal  Brotherhood  • 
II.     The  World  Has  Become  Accessible  . 
Governments  Help 
The  People  Ready  to  Listen  . 

III.  The  Present  Attitude  of  Non-Christian  Peoples 

Japan  

China  .         .         .         .         . 

India 

The  New  Education 

The  New  Racial  Consciousness 

IV.  All  These  Races  Need  the  Gospel  of  Salvation 

II 


46% 
47 
49 
SI 

53 
54 
55 
56 
58 

59 
61 
61 
62 
64 

65 
67 

74 


1 2  Contents 

III.       The  New  Problems  Which  It  Presents     .      78 

I.     Thought  Problems 7^ 

(a)  Our     Attitude     Towards    Non-Christian 

Thought. 79 

(b)  How  Much  of  Western  Christianity  Shall 

be  Taken  to  Non-Christians  of  the  East       85 
(<:)  The   Importation   of    Radical   Christian 

Thought 

XL     Life  Problems 

III.     Problems  of  Work    ..... 

{a)  What  Does  the  Church  Aim  to  Accom 

plish  ? 

{b)  Shall  the  Objective  be  the  Individual  or 
the  Nation  ?       . 
^  (\^"^^^y         (^c)  How  Far  Shall  Education  be  Conducted 
L/        ^  (^)  Diffusion  or  Concentration,  Which  ? 

{e)  Federation  and  Cooperation    . 
(/)  Relation  of  Missionaries  to  Governments 
(g)  The  Value  of  Mass  Movements 


IV.  The  New  Methods  Which  It  Invites 

I.     Different  People  Require  Different  Methods 
II.     Positive  and  Constructive  Method  . 
The  Method  of  Jesus 

III.  Method  of  Simplicity  or  Unity 

IV.  A  Moral  Dynamic  or  Spiritual  Power 
V.     Love  the  Supreme  Motive 

■      VI.     The  Argument  from  Experience 
VII.     Discrimination  Needed  . 
VIII.     Adaptation  of  Life  to  the  East 

V.  The  New  Ideals  Which  It  Exalts 

I.  A  Self-Supporting  Church 

II.  A  Self-Directing  Church  . 

III.  A  Self- Propagating  Church 

IV.  Church  Union  .... 

Will  Unity  Ever  be  Achieved  ? 
Urgency  of  Church  Union 
What  Has  Been  Achieved  ?    . 


89 
90 
92 

92 

94 
98 
108 
III 
112 
118 


122 

122 

125 
128 
130 

141 

144 
147 

164 
170 
171 

175 

177 


What  Are  the  Benefits  of  Church  Union  ?     181 


Contents 


»3 


VI.  Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs 

Witnesses  to  these  Triumphs  . 
I.     Growth  of  the  Christian  Community 
II.     Change  of  Character 
Education     . 
Character 
Martyrdom   . 

III.  Distinguished  Converts     . 

IV.  The  Coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 

VII.  Present    Forces    and    Agencies  on  the 

Mission  Field 

1.  The  Power  of  the  Holy  Spirit      .         .         . 

Revivals        .         .         .         .         .^ 

2.  The  Native  Church  and  the  Christian  Community 

3.  The  Missionary  Force  ..... 

4.  The  Force  of  Native  Workers      .... 

5.  "  Institutions  Established  on  Mission  Fields    . 

(a)   Hospitals 

(d)  Colleges  and  Universities 

(c)  Training  Institutions      .         . 

(^)  Primary  Schools 

(e)  Presses  and  Publishing  Houses 

(/)  Literature      .         .         .         .         . 

(g)  The  Translated  Bible     .... 

(^)  Philanthropic  Institutions 

6.  Work  for  the  Jews      .         .         .         .         . 

7.  Missionary  Work  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 

8.  Missionary  Activity  ofthe  Russian  Orthodox  Church 

VIII.  The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  to  be  Ac 

COMPLISHED       .  .  i 

The  Unfinished  Task      . 
The  Missionary  Activity  of  Other  Faiths 
Opposition  in  Non-Christian  Lands 
Opposition  of  Governments 

(a)  Non- Christian  Governments 

(^)  Christian  Governments  . 
Western  Christians  in  the  East 
Eastern  Thought  and  Institutions 
Importance  of  Realizing  the  Greatness  of  the 

Work 


I. 

IL 

III. 

IV. 


V. 

VL 

VII. 


185 
186 
189 
196 
197 
199 
201 
203 
210 


221 
221 
222 
226 
227 
231 
232 

234 

235 
238 

239 

240 

243 

245 
247 
248 
249 

251 
252 
256 
261 
266 
266 
268 
272 
275 

278 


14  Contents 

IX.  The  New  Response  of  the  Church  to  the 

Challenge .284 

The  World  Missionary  Conference  .     287 

I.     New  Missionary  Movements      ....     289 

The  Awakening  of  Christian  Women       .     290 

Laymen  Activity 290 

Brotherhoods         .         .         .         .         .292 

Laymen's  Missionary  Movement     .         .292 

Student  Volunteer  Movement  .         .     294 

Other  Young  People's  Organizations       .     299 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.        .-       .     301 

IL     Missionary  Organizations  ....     304 

III.     Defects  of  Home  Organizations  .      •   .         .     308 

(a)  '' Business  Methods  "  and  De*bts    .         .     308 

(J?)  Inadequate  Canvass       .         .         .         '     '6'^2f 

(c)  Missionary  Societies  and  their  Auxiliaries     3 1 6 

X.  The  Future  Outlook        .        .        .        -319 

1.  Will  ibe  Fraught  with  Many  Surprises  .         .         .320 

2.  The  Utilization  of  New  Forces    .         .         .         .326 

(a)  The  Old  Churches  of  the  East  .  .327 
Ip)  The  Youthful  Mission  Church  .  .328 
\c)  The  Moral  Power  of  Our  Faith  .  .330 
(^)  International  Law  and  Universal  Peace   .     331 

3.  A  Time  of  Reflex  Influences        ....     333 

4.  A  Time  of  New  Visions 336 

(a)  A  Vision  of  the  Kingdom  .  .  .  .  336 
\b)  The  Brotherhood  of  Man         .         .         .     340 

5.  A  Vision  of  Bright  Promise  .         .         .         .342 

Statistical  Preface 347 

Statistical  Tables 349 

Table  I.     Summary  of  Missionary  Societies. 
*<    II.     General    and   Evangelistic   Sum- 
mary. 
'<  III.     General  Educational  Summary. 
'*  IV.     Summary  of  Medical  Work. 
**    V.     Philanthropic    and     Reformatory 

Summary. 
**  VI.     Roman  Catholic  Missions  Among 
Non-Christians. 

Index 357 


The  Modern  Missionary 
Challenge 


Its  Subjective  Source — the  Modern  Christian 
Consciousness ;  and  the  Missionary  Bible 

CHRISTIANITY  impresses  itself  upon  the 
collective  mind  of  its  followers  in  every 
age.  This  creates  a  Christian  consciousness 
which  actually  measures  the  influence  of  our  faith 
upon  each  succeeding  generation.  This  conscious- 
ness is  constantly  passing  through  a  process  of  evo- 
lution. It  is  the  subjective  response  to  the  objective 
faith,  and  is  affected  by  all  those  complex  forces 
which,  together,  we  call  civilization.  The  advance 
of  this  Christian  consciousness  has  been  most  marked 
through  all  the  centuries  ;  and  there  is  hardly  another 
thing  which  brings  to  the  thoughtful  Christian  more 
encouragement  in  his  religion  than  the  progressing 
Christian  mind,  or  consciousness,  evolved  by  it. 

This  consciousness,  every  generation,  interprets 
anew  the  Bible.  From  the  first,  God's  Word  has 
spoken  its  message  of  living  truth  to  God's  people ; 
but  the  message  has  been  a  constantly  progressive 
one.     Objectively  the  Bible  has  remained  the  same'. 

15 


l6  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

But  every  age  has  brought  to  bear  upon  it  new  gifts 
of  appreciation  and  new  powers  of  interpretation. 
In  other  words,  the  ever-expanding  Christian  con- 
sciousness of  the  Church  has  found  fresh  messages 
of  truth  and  life  which  it  has  hailed  with  new  delight, 
and  has  substituted  for  old  and  decadent  doctrines, 
which  advancing  thought  and  civilization  rendered 
impossible,  and  which  no  longer  had  true  signifi- 
cance or  ethical  force  to  men. 

Under  the  domination  of  certain  moral  preposses- 
sions and  conceptions  of  spiritual  power,  the  whole 
Christian  Church  for  centuries  believed  that  it  found 
in  the  Bible  the  doctrine  of  a  ransom  paid  by  Christ 
to  Satan.  Seven  centuries  were  required  to  emanci- 
pate Christendom  from  so  crude  and  unworthy  a 
doctrine — a  doctrine  which  was  read  into  the  Bible 
by  the  inadequate  philosophy  and  obscure  ethics  of 
the  day.  The  doctrine  of  a  limited  atonement  sim- 
ilarly found  its  rise,  universal  prevalence  and  decline. 
It  is  only  within  our  own  day  that  the  advancing 
Christian  consciousness  and  the  growing  ethical 
standards  of  the  Kingdom  rang  the  death  knell  of 
the  belief  in  the  damnation  of  infants,  which  our 
ancestors  were  led  by  certain  processes  of  logic  to 
maintain  and  to  find  inculcated  nearly  everywhere 
in  the  Bible.  A  half  century  ago  slavery  also  found 
its  chief  defense  from  the  Christian  pulpit  through  a 
use  and  interpretation  of  Scriptures  now  repudiated 
and  regarded  as  abhorrent  by  practically  the  whole 
Church. 

Thanks  be  to  God  that  the  Church  has  outgrown 


Its  Subjective  Source  17 

these  antiquated  doctrines  and  unworthy  interpreta- 
tions of  God's  Word. 

In  like  manner,  many  of  our  own  cherished 
BibHcal  renderings  and  readings  will  doubtless 
give  way  to  ever-advancing  thought  and  to  a 
guidance  of  the  Spirit  to  saner  visions  and  inter- 
pretations of  God  and  His  message  to  man.  John 
Robinson  was  a  true  prophet  when  he  said  that 
"  there  is  more  light  to  come  out  of  God's  Word." 
This  will  remain  true  throughout  the  ages.  The 
prayer  of  all  God's  people  should  be,  in  the  words 
of  the  Psalmist, — **  Open  Thou  mine  eyes,  that  I 
may  behold  wondrous  things  out  of  Thy  Law." 
God's  message  to  man  in  His  Word  will  always 
carry  a  meaning  to  His  people  which  will  corre- 
spond, to  a  large  extent,  with  that  inward  gift  of  in- 
terpretation which  the  Spirit  will  impart  unto  them 
in  consonance  with,  and  based  upon  their  developing 
power  to  see.  Out  of  the  inexhaustible  mine  of 
God's  Word  new  treasures  of  truth  will  ever  be  dis- 
covered and  brought  forth. 

Among  these  treasures  which  the  Church  has  dis- 
covered, or,  more  appropriately,  rediscovered  and 
appropriated  from  the  Bible,  in  our  day,  none  is  so 
vital  and  important  as  its  message  of  a  world-wide 
redemption  and  its  emphasis  upon  a  world-wide 
Christian  service.  And  though  I  am  not  prepared 
to  say  that  this  is  the  ultimate  of  Christian  thought 
and  interpretation,  I  do  believe  that  it  represents  to 
us,  in  many  ways,  the  finality  of  God's  teaching' 
concerning    His  Kingdom.     There    is   a   no   more 


l8  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

wondrous  vision  which  has  dawned  upon  the  world 
than  that  of  the  missionary  message  of  the  Bible. 
As  Dr.  Horton  well  says, — "  It  stands  out  as  an  es- 
sentially and  absolutely  missionary  book  ;  it  is  from 
first  to  last  the  announcement  of  a  truth  which,  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  must  be  announced  to  the 
world  ;  it  is  the  record  of  missionaries,  the  sole  ob- 
ject of  which  is  to  engage  all  who  hear  to  iDecome 
missionaries  themselves.  To  weaken  its  missionary 
meaning  is  to  neutralize  its  whole  work  ;  and  to  ig- 
nore its  missionary  command  is  to  reduce  the  whole 
book  to  an  absurdity."  Modern  Christian  thought 
has  been  so  developed  and  quickened  under  God's 
Spirit,  that  the  missionary  message  of  the  Bible  has 
become  its  dominant  message ;  so  that  he  only  is 
competent  to  understand  this  book  who  is  inspired 
by  its  command  to  world-wide  love  and  service.  A 
man  cannot  be  an  intelligent,  even  if  a  true.  Chris- 
tian to-day  who  does  not  see  on  every  Bible  page 
its  missionary  message  and  motive. 

It  is  a  suggestive  fact  that  it  has  been  left  to  our 
age  to  discover  the  Bible  as  a  missionary  book  and 
to  interpret  its  deepest  thought  and  highest  senti- 
ments in  the  language  of  a  missionary  manifesto. 

It  is  also  a  striking  fact  that  some  of  the  most 
inspiring  missionary  texts  and  the  most  confident 
prophecies  of  the  universal  prevalence  and  dominion 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  are  found  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, in  connection  with  the  life  and  history  of  the 
Jews — one  of  the  narrowest  and  most  exclusive 
people  of  our  race.     Yet  it  should  be  remembered 


Its  Subjective  Source  19 

that  the  Jews  were  God's  chosen  people,  under  His 
special  training,  to  be  His  messengers  to  the  world  ; 
and  that  their  prophets  were  men  of  lofty  spiritual 
ideals,  looking  to  the  far-ofi  vision  of  human  perfec- 
tion and  glory.  And  it  is  these  prophetic  visions  of 
splendour  which  we  now  appropriate  and  incorporate 
as  messages  and  watchwords  in  our  modern  mis- 
sionary campaign.  Thus,  out  of  the  narrow  provin- 
cialism and  mean  prejudices  of  that  people,  there 
were  given  glimpses  of  the  universal  redemption  and 
of  the  all-prevalence  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  upon 
earth. 

It  is  well  to  note  just  here,  in  passing,  the  vast 
difference  between  the  Jewish  faith  and  the  ethnic 
faiths  of  the  East  in  this  particular.  Compare  it,  for 
instance,  with  Hinduism.  Judaism  has  a  forward 
gaze  towards  future  blessing  and  glory.  It  was  a 
religion  of  hopefulness,  with  great  ideals,  stirring 
promise  and  possibilities.  Hinduism,  on  the  other 
hand,  emphasized  the  backward  look  towards  the 
golden  age  of  the  past.  It  has  always  had  its  ideals 
behind  it  and  eagerly  yearns  to  return  to  a  supposed 
greatness  of  the  prehistoric  past.  , 

But  the  missionary  spirit  of  our  faith  finds  its 
foundation,  as  it  does  also  its  culmination,  in  the 
New  Testament  and  not  in  the  Old.  The  seed  of 
vision  and  of  prophecy  in  the  Old  developed  into 
the  spreading  tree  of  a  world  religion  in  the  New. 
Here  missionary  spirit  and  teaching  is  not  an  aspira- 
tion but  a  principle  of  life — not  a  future  hope,  but  a' 
present  programme  full  of  conviction  and  power. 


20  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Dr.  Horton  truly  says,  "  The  Gospel  not  only  con- 
tains the  missionary  idea,  but  it  is  the  missionary 
idea  and  nothing  else.  It  scrupulously  avoids  being 
anything  else,  and  gets  rid  of  all  encumbrances."  It 
is  a  growing  conviction  of  the  Christian  Church  that 
God's  Word  is  not  only  a  book  with  a  missionary 
message,  but  that  it  is  essentially  a  missionary  book 
with  no  other  message  worth  recording  than  that  of 
the  infinite  love  of  God  reaching  out  unto  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  to  save  all,  even  the  meanest, 
of  our  race.  And  we  also  notice  that  in  His  minis- 
try upon  earth  it  was  the  first  business  and  the  su- 
preme care  of  Christ  to  gather  together,  to  prepare 
in  life  and  thought,  and  to  send  forth  in  power  that 
wonderful  band  of  missionaries  to  carry  His  message 
of  life,  and,  above  all,  to  carry  Him  unto  perishing 
souls  among  all  the  nations. 

Let  us  consider  briefly  a  few  of  those  missionary 
characteristics  which  constitute  the  gospel  message 
to  present-day  Christians  everywhere. 

I.  The  Universal  Fatherhood  of  God 
Jesus  revealed  and  taught  no  truth  more  funda- 
mental than  this  of  God's  universal  Fatherhood.  It 
was  a  doctrine  which  had  largely  escaped  human 
search  after  God  and  man's  appreciation  of  the  God- 
head. The  Greeks  of  old,  in  the  highest  reaches  of 
their  religious  speculation  and  in  their  dim  visions 
of  the  divine,  had  only  a  glimpse  of  this  doctrine. 
They  and  the  Romans  called  Him,  indeed,  Zeus- 
pater,  or  Jupiter  ;  but  they  gave  little  of  that  tender 


Its  Subjective  Source  21 

content  and  precious  significance  which  enriches  our 
Hfe  in  the  thought  of  His  Fatherhood.  St.  Paul,  as 
he  stood  at  Athens,  quoted  one  of  the  Greek  poets 
who  had  said,  "  For  we  are  also  His  offspring "  ; 
but  how  little  of  this  precious  relationship  entered 
into  their  minds  as  they  thought  of  the  deities  of 
their  Pantheon  ! 

In  India,  also,  there  are  very  occasional  intima- 
tions of  the  fatherhood  of  certain  members  of  the 
multitudinous  Pantheon ;  but  the  pantheism,  the 
polytheism  and  the  idolatry  of  the  East  have  all  but 
obliterated  the  fatherly  lineaments  of  God  to  those 
people. 

The  Jews  came  nearer  to  this  conception  ;  they  did 
glory  in  God  as  their  Father ;  but  it  was  the  Father 
of  the  Jews  only  that  they  saw  in  Him.  He  was  in 
their  view  nothing  more  than  a  tribal,  or  national, 
God,  a  conception  which  was  exalted  and  emphasized 
by  their  exclusive  life  and  theology. 

Jesus  preached  and  gave  supreme  emphasis  to  the 
truth  of  God's  universal  Fatherhood.  He  lifted  the 
doctrine  out  of  its  narrow,  racial  significance  and 
revealed  God  as  the  Father  of  all  men.  He  not  only 
emphasized  the  divine  Fatherhood.  He  proclaimed 
with  equal  emphasis  the  universality  of  that  Father- 
hood. The  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  is  the 
transcendently  beautiful  and  supreme  expression  of 
that  truth.  However  degraded  man  may  be ;  how- 
ever brutal  his  character,  and  however  besotted  with 
sin,  in  him  the  lineaments  of  the  Father  may  ulti- 
mately be  found ;  and  the  infinite  Father  above 


22  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

yearns  in  compassion  for  the  prodigal  who  has  left 
Him  and  who  knows  Him  not.  And  we  may  appro- 
priately add  to  this  parable  the  incomparable  prayer 
whereby  He  turns  the  human  eye  heavenward  and 
enables  men  everywhere  to  approach  Him  as  "  Our 
Father  who  art  in  heaven."  There  is  no  more 
sublime,  beautiful  and  inspiring  truth  which  can  be 
entertained  by  the  human  mind  than  this  of  God's 
parental  relationship  to  man.  I  know  of  no  message 
so  worthy  as  this  of  being  carried  to  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth  and  of  being  preached  and  im- 
pressed  with  persistent  tenderness  upon  men  whose 
conceptions  of  the  Godhead  are  involved  in  cruelty, 
meanness  and  immorality.  On  another  occasion  we 
hear  Him  say,  **  One  is  your  Father,  even  He  who  is 
in  heaven  "  ;  and  of  the  Father  He  says,  **  He  maketh 
His  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  the  good,  and  sendeth 
rain  on  the  just  and  the  unjust.  ...  Ye  also 
shall  be  perfect  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  per- 
fect." Perfection  of  love  is  found  only  in  Him  ; 
and  in  His  life  and  example  shall  we  find  our  ideal 
of  life. 

The  Apostle  Paul,  also,  in  addressing  the  Athe- 
nians, said,  "  Being  then  the  offspring  of  God  we 
ought  not  to  think  that  the  Godhead  is  like  unto 
gold,  or  silver,  or  stone,  graven  by  art  and  device  of 
man."  All  forms  of  polytheism  and  idolatry  are 
absolutely  repugnant  to  the  conception  of  God's 
Fatherhood.  The  heathen  who  drags  his  deity  down 
into  the  meanness  of  idolatry  and  devil  worship  is 
incapable  of  retaining  or  even  of  attaining  unto  the 


Its  Subjective  Source  23 

glorious  vision  of  the  divine  Fatherhood.  No  more 
can  the  Jew  who  claims  that  God  bears  this  loving 
relationship  to  the  Hebrews  alone. 

In  later  days,  also,  Christians,  for  centuries,  per- 
sisted in  limiting  God's  Fatherhood  to  Christians 
only.  It  was  essentially  the  narrowness  of  the 
Jewish  conception  repeated  once  more  under  a  new 
environment.  **  Converted  Christians  only  are  the 
children  of  God.  All  others  are  the  offspring  of  the 
devil,  in  nature  and  from  choice,"  was  their  conten- 
tion. Not  only  to  the  Jews  of  old,  but  also  to  the 
Christians  of  later  days,  did  He  utter  the  parable  of  the 
Prodigal  Son.  And  the  missionary  goes  forth  to-day 
to  non-Christian  lands  under  the  inspiration  of  a  no 
more  precious  truth  than  this,  that  he  is  carrying  the 
message  of  a  loving  and  all-patient  Father  to  His 
wandering  sons  in  the  wilderness  of  heathenism  and 
of  sin,  seeking  to  bring  them  back  to  His  home,  to 
a  baptism  of  His  blessing  and  to  a  full  possession  of 
His  lineaments  and  character.  This  is  the  substance 
of  the  missionary's  message  to  a  lost  world  to-day, 
that  the  Father  of  infinite  mercy  and  tenderness  is 
still  seeking  them  and  is  exercising  all  the  resources 
of  His  condescending  love  to  find  them  and  to  save 
them  from  the  lowest  degradation  of  life  into  which 
they  have  fallen. 

How  eager  Christ  was  in  all  His  teaching,  as  He 
was  indeed  in  His  whole  life,  to  bring  back  to  man 
this  vision  of  the  infinite  Father  of  all  men,  as  one 
who  is  seeking  and  following  after  men  in  all  their 
wanderings,  determined  to  reveal  Himself  unto  them 


24  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

and  to  bring  them  back  to  the  unspeakable  joys  of  His 
life  and  love. 

Nor  must  we  forget  the  corollary  of  this  doctrine 
as  expressed  in  the  common  brotherhood  of  men. 
No  missionary  can  carry  this  Gospel  of  the  universal 
Fatherhood  without,  at  the  same  time,  recognizing 
the  brotherhood  of  all  men.  The  progress  of  God's 
Kingdom  upon  earth  has  been  impeded  more  by 
racial  narrowness,  national  exclusiveness  and  sec- 
tional bitterness  among  men  than  by  any  other 
obstacle.  This  has  not  only  made  it  impossible 
for  men  to  go  forth  in  missionary  helpfulness  and 
enthusiasm ;  it  has  taken  the  missionary  impulse 
and  message  away  from  them.  It  is  only  when 
the  missionary  can  stand  among  the  heathen  peo- 
ple of  the  world,  and,  in  infinite  tenderness,  teach 
them  to  say  with  him  the  Lord's  Prayer,  that  he  can 
enter  into  a  proper  and  an  adequate  appreciation  of 
his  relationship  to  them  and  of  that  kinship  which 
he  must  feel  with  them.  We  recognize,  as  no 
generation  before  us,  that  "  God  has  made  of  one 
every  nation  of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the 
earth,  having  determined  their  appointed  seasons, 
and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation ;  that  they  should 
seek  God  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  Him  and  find 
Him,  though  He  is  not  far  from  each  one  of  us :  for 
in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being."  It 
is  this  growing  consciousness  of  our  close  relationship 
with  all  men  and  the  consequent  obligation  which  it 
involves,  to  seek  and  to  save  all  men  which,  per- 
haps, more   than   any   other   condition,    gives   new 


Its  Subjective  Source  25 

impetus  and  power  to  the  modern  missionary  move- 
ment. One  cannot  enter  into  this  new-found  rela- 
tionship of  brotherhood  to  men  without  taking  up 
the  world  obligation  which  it  involves  ;  and  all  this 
comes  from  Christ's  message  of  God's  universal 
Fatherhood.  Once  let  the  narrow  sympathies,  be- 
gotten of  national,  tribal,  sectarian  and  local  ties,  be 
swallowed  up  in  the  conviction  of  a  universal  human 
brotherhood,  and  the  missionary  dynamic  becomes 
tenfold  reenforced  and  a  world-wide  effort  for  the 
salvation  of  men  becomes  a  blessed  compulsion  and 
a  necessity. 

11.    This  is  also  the  Gospel  of  the  World 
Saviour 

As  we  study  the  faiths  of  the  world  we  discover 
only  two  which  have  exalted  and  raised  to  supreme 
importance  the  doctrine  of  incarnation.  These  are 
Christianity  and  Hinduism.  It  is  a  strange  and  in- 
teresting fact  that  these  two  religions  are,  in  many 
respects,  antipodal  to  each  other.  In  their  develop- 
ment of  this  doctrine,  as  in  their  general  conception 
of  divine  incarnation,  they-  are  absolutely  apart 
from  each  other.  The  "  descents,"  or  incarnations, 
of  India  have  neither  universality  nor  permanence. 
They  were  thought  to  bring  only  temporary  relief 
from  physical  and  social  ills  to  small  tribes  and  sects 
in  Hmited  locahties.  The  thought  of  Brahmanism, 
expressed  so  beautifully  by  Krishna,  is  to  the  effect 
that  whenever  men  suffer  cruel  tyranny  and  injustice, 
then  God  incarnates  Himself  to  bring  to  them  relief. 


26  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

So,  according  to  that  faith,  there  is  continually 
recurring  these  processes  of  divine  "  descents  "  for 
the  relief  of  suffering  humanity.  But  not  one  of 
these  multitudinous  incarnations  has  ever  had  any 
spiritual  significance  or  objective.  They  aimed  only 
to  give  temporary  relief  from  worldly  difficulties  to 
a  narrow  section  of  the  community.  And  the  reason 
is  obvious.  Not  one  of  them  came  to  bring  a  spir- 
itual blessing ;  in  other  words,  no  Hindu  incarnation 
was  ever  known  to  come  to  remedy  the  universal 
disease  of  sin.  It  is  in  Christ  alone  that  we  see  the 
Great  Remedy  for  the  world-wide  moral  plague  and 
spiritual  blindness  of  the  human  race.  He  is  the 
only  world  Saviour  because  He  is  the  only  divine 
manifestation  the  world  has  ever  known  for  saving 
man  from  sin  itself  and  from  its  damning  effects. 

The  absolute  inadequacy  of  the  myriad  incarna- 
tions of  India  is  attested  by  their  continued  multipli- 
cation— many  new  ones  appearing  every  year — and 
by  the  restless  yearning  of  the  people  for  still  more. 
On  the  other  hand,  as  Christianity  extends  its  area 
of  influence  and  absorbs  new  nations  and  peoples, 
the  eternal  adequacy  of  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  all 
men  is  increasingly  felt  throughout  Christendom. 

In  Jesus  alone  do  we  find  the  true  CosmopoHtan 
— the  Saviour  of  all  mankind  throughout  all  lands 
and  in  all  times.  It  is  true  that  He  was  born  a  Jew, 
reared  in  a  Jewish  home  and  surrounded  by  a  purely 
Jewish  environment.  In  a  certain  sense  He  could 
say,  "  I  was  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  Israel." 
But,  in  a  far  broader  and  higher  meaning.  He  came 


Its  Subjective  Source  27 

to  save  all  men,  all  races  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

It  is  strange  that  out  of  the  most  narrow  and  ex- 
clusive of  all  peoples  there  should  arise  One  whose 
love  was  unlimited  and  whose  passion  was  directed 
to  every  member  of  our  race.  Read  His  own 
wonderful  triple  message  in  Luke  xv. — in  the  parables 
of  the  Lost  Sheep,  the  Lost  Coin  and  the  Prodigal 
Son.  These  are  the  parables  of  the  **  Lost."  Christ 
in  them  referred  to  all  men  in  their  lost  estate  as  He 
did  more  especially  to  those  who  are  the  outcasts 
of  society  and  are  outbanned  by  the  decencies 
of  common  religion — the  submerged  and  the  de- 
spised. All  men  were  the  objects  of  His  loving 
search,  and  He  desired  that  they  should  be  the 
recipients  of  His  saving  grace. 

As  Jesus  was  entering  upon  His  great  ministry  of 
love  John  the  Baptist  recognized  Him  and  pro- 
claimed Him  as  "  the  lamb  of  God  which  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world."  St.  Paul  said  that  "  He 
is  the  Saviour  of  all  men,  specially  of  them  that  be- 
lieve" (i  Tim.  iv.  10).  The  Roman  centurion  and 
the  Syrophcenician  woman  partook  of  His  bless- 
ing. He  bestowed  upon  the  'penitent  thief,  in  the 
hour  of  His  own  dying  agony,  a  Saviour's  blessing 
of  Paradise.  And  of  Him  did  the  great  Apostle  to 
the  Gentiles  think,  when  he  wrote  that  "  There  cannot 
be  Greek  and  Jew,  circumcision  and  uncircumcision, 
barbarian,  Scythian,  bondman,  freeman  ;  but  Christ 
is  all,  and  in  all."  And  the  same  apostle  declares 
that  "  the  Father  through  Him  reconciled  all  things 


28  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

unto  Himself,  having  made  peace  through  the  blood 
of  His  cross  :  through  Him,  I  say,  whether  things 
upon  the  earth  or  things  in  the  heavens." 

In  many  other  passages,  of  the  same  content, 
Jesus  is  extolled  as  the  Saviour  of  all  men. 

How  strange  that,  with  this  clear  gospel  vision  of 
His  world-wide  love  and  universal  redemption,  the 
Christian  Church,  for  many  centuries,  limited  the 
scope  of  His  atonement  and  denied  universal  efficacy 
to  His  dying  love  I  It  taught  that  He  died  only  for 
the  elect,  and  even  doomed  to  perdition  a  countless 
number  of  innocent  babes  of  whom  Jesus  Himself 
had  said,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  Me 
and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven." 

To-day,  once  more,  the  Saviour  has  emerged  from 
the  distorted  Bible  interpretation  of  the  dark  ages, 
and  is  rediscovered  as  '*  The  Lamb  slain  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world."  He  is  known  to-day  as 
the  One  whose  dying  love  has  made  possible  the 
redemption  of  every  man  of  our  race,  and  who  is 
seeking,  in  infinite  tenderness  and  compassion,  to 
bring  all  men  into  Himself. 

Even  more  than  this,  the  Christian  Church  is 
opening  wide  its  eyes  and  the  universal  conscious- 
ness of  Christians  is  gazing  into  the  infinite  expanse 
of  the  universe  and  is  beginning  to  realize,  in  some 
imperfect  way,  the  supermundane  influence  of  the 
Cross  of  Calvary.  It  is  listening  with  a  new  in- 
telligence and  a  growing  appreciation  to  the  words 
of  the  great  apostle  who  writes  of  the  efhcacy  of  the 


Its  Subjective  Source  29 

Cross  which  made  peace  among  "  things  upon  earth 
and  things  in  the  heaven."  Who  is  there  to-day 
who  can  either  fathom  the  depth  or  reach  out  into 
the  infinite  reaches  of  the  unsearchable  limits  of 
Christ's  saving  grace  and  redeeming  love  ? 

To  the  missionary  of  the  Cross,  in  the  Far  East, 
at  the  present  time,  there  is  hardly  anything  more  en- 
couraging than  the  growing  appreciation  which  is 
manifested  for  the  Christ  as  *'  Our  Oriental  Brother." 
While  race  pride  and  prejudice  are  still  intense  and 
are  creating  a  gulf  between  the  East  and  the  West, 
and  are  in  many  places  increasing  in  bitterness ;  and 
even  while  opposition  on  their  part  to  our  religion  is 
unabated,  if  not  intensified,  it  is  refreshing  to  behold 
our  Lord  finding  among  these  far-off  people  of  the 
East  a  marvellously  growing  appreciation  and  at- 
tachment. Thousands  are  found  among  the  men 
of  culture  in  those  lands  who  recognize  in  Him 
a  new  vision  of  beauty  and  a  new  hope  and  strength 
for  life.  One  of  these  men,  the  distinguished  leader 
of  the  Brahmo-Somaj,  Keshab  Chunder  Sen,  ex- 
pressed his  adoring  love  of  Jesus  in  the  following 
words, — **  None  but  Jesus,  none  but  Jesus,  none,  I 
say,  but  Jesus,  ever  deserved  this  bright,  this  pre- 
cious diadem,  India,  and  Jesus  shall  have  it.  My 
Christ,  my  sweet  Christ,  the  most  lustrous  Jewel  of 
my  heart,  the  bridal  Adornment  of  my  soul.  For 
twenty  long  years  have  I  loved  Him  in  my  miser- 
able heart.  I  have  found,  though  oftentimes  perse- 
cuted, though  oftentimes  soiled  by  the  world,  I  have 
ever  found  sweetness  and  joy  unspeakable  in  ray 


3©  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Master  Jesus.  He  the  Bridegroom  cometh  among 
you.  May  India  adorn  herself  as  the  bride,  in  her 
glittering  apparel,  that  she  may  be  ready  to  meet 
Him." 

III.  The  Omnipresent,  Ever-working  Spirit 
OF  God  Finds  a  New  Emphasis  in  this 
Gospel 

The  Holy  Spirit,  by  the  ancient  Jew,  was  regarded 
as  a  vague,  impersonal  influence,  abiding  in  Israel 
and  bringing  manifold  blessings  to  the  nation.  Em- 
phasis is  there  everywhere  given  to  God's  chosen 
people  as  furnishing  the  sphere  of  activity  for  the 
divine  Spirit. 

In  the  New  Testament,  on  the  other  hand.  He  is 
presented  as  the  personal,  sanctifying,  comforting 
Paraklete,  who  lives  and  works  in  the  heart  of  every 
child  of  God.  His  personality  and  His  work  in  the 
Church  are  there  particularly  emphasized.  This  is 
the  dominant  characterization  of  the  Spirit's  pres- 
ence and  power  given  by  our  Lord.  He  abides  in 
the  Church  and  in  the  Christian  disciple's  heart, 
comforting,  illumining,  guiding  and  cleansing  the 
soul,  and  thus  glorifying  the  Christ. 

But  our  Lord  also  declared  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
would  "  convict  the  world  in  respect  of  sin,  and  of 
righteousness  and  of  judgment."  In  other  words. 
He  maintained  that  while  the  Spirit  found  special 
activity  within  the  sphere  of  His  Kingdom  and  within 
the  children  of  that  Kingdom,  He  also  wrought 
mightily  upon  those  who  had  not  entered  this  King- 


Its  Subjective  Source  31 

dom  in  order  that  they  might  come  within  its  radi- 
ant influences. 

St.  Peter  was,  by  special  vision  and  revelation  of 
God,  shaken  out  of  his  narrow  provincialism  and  en- 
abled later  to  declare  "  that  God,  who  knoweth  the 
hearts,  bears  witness  to  the  Gentiles,  giving  them 
the  Holy  Spirit  even  as  He  did  unto  us"  (Acts 
XV.  8).  The  Spirit  who  worked  upon  the  heart  of 
Cornelius  is  thus  everywhere  striving  to  bring  to 
men  the  true  vision  of  God  and  of  truth.  There  is 
nothing  so  **  common  "  or  *'  unclean  "  that  He  does 
not  touch  in  some  way  with  His  benign  influ- 
ence, and  endeavour  to  bring  into  the  Kingdom  and 
under  the  saving  grace  of  God. 

We  are  told,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  that 
the  inauguration  of  Christianity  upon  earth  was 
the  fulfillment  of  an  ancient  prophecy  that  God 
should  pour  His  Spirit  upon  all  flesh.  At  the 
present  time  the  deepest  conviction  of  Christen- 
dom recognizes  that  same  divine  Spirit  as  having 
wrought  light  and  blessing  even  among  non-Chris- 
tian peoples.  The  religious  yearnings  and  the  spir- 
itual gropings  after  God,  among  these  dark  nations 
and  peoples  of  the  earth,  certainly  cannot  be  the 
result  of  Satanic  impulse  and  guidance,  as  it  was  the 
habit  of  Christians  to  think  half  a  century  ago.  The 
mighty  movements  of  the  lands  of  the  East,  some  of 
them  far  removed  from  Christians  and  Christian  in- 
stitutions, are  but  the  quickening,  convicting  influ- 
ence of  the  same  Spirit  upon  those  peoples.  And  it 
is  this,  above  all  else,  which  has  created  a  deep,  di- 


32  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

vine  unrest  among  them  and  has  prepared  them  for 
the  clearer  message  of  God  through  His  people  who 
have  now  come  to  preach,  to  teach,  and  to  live  Him 
in  their  towns  and  hamlets.  The  missionary,  as  he 
goes  to  non-Christian  people,  has  the  comforting 
assurance — an  assurance  confirmed  by  many  in- 
dubitable evidences — that  God's  Spirit  is  there  al- 
ready preparing  the  people  for  His  message  and 
teaching  them,  through  the  light  of  nature's  proc- 
esses and  of  marvellous  providences,  to  be  pre- 
pared for  the  higher  light  of  God  through  His  reve- 
lation of  Himself  in  Christ  Jesus.  There  is  nothing 
more  inspiring  to  the  Christian  worker  in  those 
lands  of  mighty  ethnic  faiths  than  the  thought 
and  the  .  assured  conviction  that  God  is  already 
there  preparing  the  soil  for  the  seed  of  Christian 
truth. 

A  very  interesting  illustration  is  that  of  the  Karen 
people  in  Burma.  While  in  their  lowest  condition 
of  heathenism,  a  wild  barbarian  people  of  the  moun- 
tains, they  had  treasured  a  precious  tradition  that 
their  sacred  Veda,  in  prehistoric  times,  had  disap- 
peared and  that,  some  day,  a  white  brother  of  the 
West  would  bring  and  restore  to  them  their  lost 
Bible  and  would  teach  to  them  its  truth.  This 
strange  tradition  opened  their  hearts  immediately, 
under  God's  Spirit,  to  the  reception  of  the  saving 
message  of  God's  grace  when  brought  to  them,  more 
than  half  a  century  ago  by  American  missionaries. 
So  that  more  than  two  hundred  thousands  of  that  one 
tribe  alone  have  already  responded  to  the  Christian 


Its  Subjective  Source  33 

invitation  and  have  amazingly  entered  into  the  her- 
itage of  God's  own  people. 

IV.  The  Universal  Religion  has  Also  been 
Restored  to  Us  in  the  Gospel  Message 
For  how  many  centuries  did  the  Jews  reveal  their 
mean  selfishness  and  narrow  exclusiveness  in  the 
enjoyment  of  their  faith !  They  were  God's  own 
chosen  and  favoured  people  ;  but  they  accepted  their 
faith  in  a  small  way,  as  a  national  faith,  destined  for 
their  own  consumption  only  ;  and  it  became  to  them  a 
nourisher  of  pride  and  of  contempt  of  other  people. 
What  a  provincial,  petty  thing  any  other  religion  is 
as  compared  with  Christianity  in  its  boundless  reach 
of  infinite  blessing  to  men  1  Hinduism  is  an  ethnic 
faith  ;  it  has  only  one  door  of  entrance,  and  that  is 
through  birth.  One  must  be  born  into  that  religion, 
otherwise  it  offers  no  hope  to  him.  Zoroastrianism 
is  of  kindred  spirit  with  Hinduism.  A  few  years 
ago  a  Parsee  gentleman,  who  had  travelled  abroad, 
married  a  French  lady  and  brought  his  bride  to  his 
home  in  Bombay.  It  was  her  hope  and  desire  that, 
upon  confession  of  her  faith,  she  plight  be  received 
into  his  ancestral  religion  ;  and  she  so  expressed  her 
desire  to  the  leaders  of  that  faith.  At  once  the  ques- 
tion was  raised  whether  Parseeism  is  capable  of  tak- 
ing into  itself  a  foreigner  by  birth.  A  great  conven- 
tion of  the  leading  religious  lights  of  that  august 
faith  was  called.  For  months  they  deliberated  upon 
the  subject,  and  the  question  so  agitated  them  that, ' 
for  a  while,  they  were  divided  into  two  bitter  camps. 


34  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

The  majority  ultimately  decided  that  their  faith  could 
not  receive  the  applicant,  that  no  one  that  was  not 
born  in  their  religion  could  enter  into  its  inner  sanc- 
tuary. So  the  good  lady  is  still  waiting  at  the  door, 
or,  rather,  has  found  that  Parseeism  has  no  door  of 
entrance  to  such  as  she  ! 

But  Jesus,  standing  under  the  shadow  of  a  dwarfed, 
stunted  Judaism,  proclaimed  a  world-religion — a  re- 
ligion whose  universal  character,  whose  vital  mes- 
sage and  whose  world-wide  appeal  and  invitation 
are  even  to-day  only  beginning  to  be  understood  by 
the  Christian  Church. 

How  slow  were  the  Twelve  to  realize  the  full  com- 
prehensiveness of  our  faith.  St.  Peter  had  to  be 
driven  from  his  Jewish  exclusiveness  by  a  special 
vision  (Acts  x.  9-17);  and  even  this  and  the  de- 
scent of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  Cornelius  and  his 
friends  did  not  permanently  cure  Simon  of  his  relig- 
ious pettiness  and  Jewish  bigotry. 

This  was  the  infirmity  of  all  the  Twelve,  so  that 
the  Christian  Church  was  for  years,  after  the  Pente- 
costal baptism,  in  imminent  danger  of  becoming 
merely  a  passing  phase  of  Jewish  reform.  It  was 
then  that  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  entered 
upon  the  scene,  and,  under  God's  Spirit,  broadened 
our  faith  into  true  universality.  He  gave  to  it  that 
which  Jesus  intended  it  should  have — a  human  in- 
terest and  appeal  and  a  challenge  which  is  world- 
wide and  inter-racial.  For  many  centuries  of  our 
era  Christians  persisted  in  following  Peter  rather 
than  Paul.     They  were  unwilling  to  understand  and 


Its  Subjective  Source  35 

interpret  our  faith  in  its  broad,  human,  rather  than  in 
its  narrow,  racial  emphasis. 

Yet  how  anxious  was  our  Lord  to  save  His  religion 
from  the  dangers  of  a  local  and  ethnic  rut,  and  to 
proclaim  its  universal  nature  and  message.  He  tells 
us  that,  of  His  Kingdom,  it  cannot  be  said,  **  Lo  here 
or  lo  there."  Its  home  is  in  the  heart  of  man.  It  is 
a  spiritual  Kingdom,  devoid  of  any  local  colouring 
or  national  characteristics, — human  from  centre  to 
circumference.  "  Many,"  He  said,  *'  shall  coipe  from 
the  East  and  the  West,  and  shall  sit  down  with 
Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  in  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven"  (Matt.  viii.  11).  He  declared  that  *'the 
field  is  the  world  "  (Matt.  xiii.  37),  and  that  *'  this 
Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  the 
whole  world  for  a  testimony  unto  all  nations  "  (Matt, 
xxiv.  14).  Listen  also  to  His  words  in  appreciation 
of  the  loving  act  of  Mary, — "  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
wheresoever  this  Gospel  shall  be  preached  in  the 
whole  worldy  that  also  which  this  woman  hath  done 
shall  be  spoken  of  for  a  memorial  of  her." 

How  frequently  He  dwells  upon  this  aspect  of  His 
Kingdom  !  It  has  the  power  of  ever-expanding  life 
as  He  beautifully  expressed  it  in  the  parable  of  the 
Mustard  Seed.  It  has  also  the  complementary 
power  to  assimilate  unto  itself  all  that  which  is  with- 
out (the  parable  of  the  Leaven).  Thus  it  goes  forth 
in  its  twofold  missionary  capacity  as  a  seed  which 
grows  and  expands  into  a  mighty  outstretching  tree, 
under  whose  shade  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  find  - 
rest  and  refreshment,  and  as  a  leaven  which  trans- 


36  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

forms  and  purifies  and  beautifies  that  which  is  with- 
out. It  is  marvellous  with  what  variety  of  teaching 
and  of  parable  He  emphasized,  by  frequent  reitera- 
tion, the  world-wide  reach  and  the  universal  adapta- 
bility and  saving  power  of  His  religion. 

In  the  prophetic  vision  of  the  coming  of  His  King- 
dom we  are  permitted  to  listen  (Rev.  xi.  15)  to  the 
heavenly  song  which  proclaims  that  '*  the  Kingdom 
of  the  world  is  become  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and 
of  His  Christ :  and  He  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever." 

He  also  gave  unto  all  His  own  that  incomparably 
beautiful  and  inspiring  prayer  to  offer,  the  prayer 
whose  key  petition  is,  "  Thy  Kingdom  come."  It  is 
not  only  ours  to  believe  in  the  ultimate  universaHty 
of  His  Kingdom  ;  it  is  also  an  obligation  to  pray 
with  eagerness  that  it  may  come  until  it  shall  achieve 
that  which  God  intended  that  it  should  among  men. 

And  as  the  horizon  of  the  Christian's  prayer 
broadens,  as  his  human  sympathies  widen,  and  his 
consciousness  of  human  brotherhood  extends,  this 
message  of  a  Kingdom  which  has  no  bounds,  and  of  a 
reUgion  whose  invitation  is  extended  to  all  men,  will 
find  its  ultimate  reahzation  among  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth. 

V.  The  Unique  Religion  Also  is  One  of  the 
Modern  Discoveries  in  God's  Word 
We  begin  to  understand,  in  a  careful  study  of  the 
Bible,  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  is  not  merely  a  uni- 
versal religion,  but  is  also  the  only  true  faith  the 
world  has  ever  known.     It  cannot  be  classified  as  one 


Its  Subjective  Source  37 

among  the  many  faiths  of  men.  It  is  the  absolute 
religion.  It  is  the  only  true  way  of  redemption. 
The  Old  Testament  prophets  claim  that  Jehovah  is 
supreme  among  the  Gods,  that  He  is  the  only  self- 
existing,  absolute  Being — *M  am  that  I  am" — (Ex. 
iii.  14),  and  that  polytheism  and  idolatry  are  sin  and 
folly  and  an  abomination  unto  God. 

The  New  Testament  carries  us  much  beyond  this. 
Our  Lord  tells  us  that  He  is  the  ''  Light  of  the 
world  "  and  that  no  one  can  be  saved  without  be- 
lieving on  Him.  *'He  that  believeth  on  the  Son 
hath  eternal  life ;  but  he  that  obeyeth  not  the  Son 
shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on 
him  "  (John  iii.  36).  **  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the 
life."  Apart  from  Him  there  is  neither  life  nor  hope 
of  salvation.  In  the  great  parable  of  the  future — 
(Matt.  XXV.  31-46) — He  teaches  us  that  all  men 
shall  receive  final  judgment  at  His  hands,  and  that 
the  basis  of  that  judgment  will  be  their  attitude 
towards  Him  in  this  world. 

The  disciples  also  proclaimed,  in  the  presence  of 
their  enemies,  that  **  There  is  no  salvation  in  any 
other ;  for  neither  is  there  any,  other  name  under 
heaven  given  among  men  wherein  we  must  be 
saved"  (Acts  iv.  12).  St.  Paul  also  writes  that 
"  The  times  of  ignorance  God  therefore  overlooked  ; 
but  now  He  commandeth  men  that  they  should  all 
everywhere  repent ;  inasmuch  as  He  hath  appointed 
a  day  in  which  He  will  judge  the  world  in  righteous- 
ness by  the  man  whom  He  hath  ordained." 

In  non-Christian  lands  men  often  meet  the  mis- 


38  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

sionary  appeal  with  the  old  excuse  that  "  All  roads 
lead  to  Rome,"  that  all  faiths  are  equally  good  and 
will  lead  souls  to  God  and  redemption.  "  All  that  a 
man  needs  is  sincerity  of  belief  in  his  ancestral  re- 
ligion, whatever  that  may  be."  In  Christian  lands 
also  there  are  many  who  have  no  sympathy  with 
missionary  endeavour.  Some  of  them,  believing  in 
an  extreme  doctrine  of  evolution,  claim  that  we 
should  let  every  people  evolve  their  own  religion 
and  not  impose  upon  them  a  foreign  cult. "  Will  sin- 
cerity save  a  man  who  trusts  his  life  to  a  rope  of 
sand  ?  Where  would  we  be  to-day  had  our  ances- 
tors been  left  in  their  paganism,  to  the  untender 
mercies  of  the  process  of  evolution  ? 

The  study  of  Comparative  Religion  has  enabled 
us  to  deny  the  satanic  origin  of  ethnic  and  other 
non-Christian  religions.  But  it  also  shows  us  that 
they  are  but  broken  and  often  distorted  lights  of  the 
full-orbed  sun  of  righteousness  in  the  religion  of 
Christ. 

So  one  need  not  deny  or  minimize  the  real  value 
of  non-Christian  faiths.  Any  religion,  or  religious 
superstition  even,  is  better  than  godlessness  or  un- 
abashed infidelity.  An  earnest  soul,  groping  after 
God  in  the  darkness,  is  preferable  to  the  self-satis- 
fied, defiant  spirit  of  an  atheist — a  man  who  denies 
both  God  and  the  future  life.  Even  the  lowest 
reaches  of  animistic  faiths  is  a  restraint,  a  correction 
and  a  prophecy  of  the  highest  revelation  of  God. 
And  in  such  well-developed  faiths  as  Mohammedan- 
ism, Buddhism,  and  Hinduism  there  are  some  won- 


Its  Subjective  Source  39 

derful,  even  if  isolated,  flashes  of  God's  own  light. 
St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter  declare  that  it  is  possible  for 
men  to  please  God  if  they  but  faithfully  and  fully 
live  up  to  the  dim  light  of  nature  and  the  best  teach- 
ing of  ethnic  faiths.  Yet  they  also  proclaimed  that 
Christ  is  the  full  revelation  of  God's  saving  thought 
to  men  and  the  fulfillment  of  all  religious  aspiration 
and  prophecy — the  one  perfect  Way  of  salvation  to 
all  men. 

The  doctrine  of  the  uniqueness  of  Christ  and  of 
His  religion,  as  the  only  perfect  Way  of  redemption 
from  sin,  is  one  which  not  only  must  be  maintained, 
but  must  also  find  increasing  emphasis  at  home  and 
on  the  mission  field.  We  cannot  abate  one  jot  of 
His  own  and  of  His  apostles'  claim  that  He  is  the 
only  world  Saviour,  and  therefore  the  only  One  who 
can  save  unto  the  uttermost  every  soul  that  comes 
to  Him,  groaning  under  the  burden  of  sin.  **  Come 
unto  Me  all  ye  that  labour,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
'*  When  I  shall  be  lifted  up  I  shall  draw  all  men 
unto  Me." 

VI.  The  World  Obligation  to  Service  Also 
IS  THE  Message  of  Our  Gospel 
The  modern  Christian  consciousness  is  accentuat- 
ing more  and  more  the  conviction  of  the  great 
Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  expressed  in  those  beautiful 
words, — "  I  am  debtor  both  to  Greeks  and  to  bar- 
barians, both  to  the  wise  and  to  the  foolish " 
(Rom.  i.  14).  The  Christian  obligation  to  serve 
and  to  save  all  men,  regardless  of  race,  language, 


4©  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

or  colour,  is  the  new  conviction  and  the  fresh  in- 
heritance of  our  time. 

It  was  our  Lord's  first  business  to  qualify,  to  train 
and  to  send  forth  the  first  missionaries  of  the  Cross  ; 
and  they  went  forth  inspired  with  that  new  sense 
of  responsibility  to  carry  the  life  and  the  blessings 
which  they  had  received  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth.  Freely  had  they  received,  freely  did  they 
give  their  life  in  order  to  carry  the  Gospel  of  life  to 
perishing  souls  in  many  lands.  This  conviction  and 
obligation  of  universal  service  has  come  to  the 
modern  Christian  Church  because  it  has  now,  for 
the  first  time  since  apostolic  days,  recognized  with 
fullness  a  few  significant  and  fundamental  facts. 

{a)  It  realizes  that  an  outgoing,  limitless  love  is 
the  fundamental  principle  of  our  faith.  Our  Lord 
summed  up  the  duties  and  obligations  of  His  dis- 
ciples in  the  word,  loz^e.  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind ; 
and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  The  parable  of  the 
Good  Samaritan  is  His  interpretation  of  that  com- 
mand and  His  reply  to  the  question  as  to  how  far 
Christian  love  should  extend.  This  parable  now, 
for  the  first  time,  finds  its  true  interpretation  and  its 
right  place  of  honour  in  the  Bible  message.  Note 
that  it  is  the  love  of  a  stranger  and  a  despised  for- 
eigner to  his  enemy  which  is  expressed  in  this  par- 
able. The  circumference  of  the  Christian  obligation 
to  love  is  the  whole  world. 

One  has  well  said  that  other  faiths  need  only  two 


Its  Subjective  Source  4I 

persons  for  their  realization — man  and  God — but 
Christianity  requires  three — man  and  God  and  the 
other  man.  Hinduism  is  an  absolutely  selfish  re- 
ligion. For  its  highest  cultivation,  one  is  com- 
manded to  go  into  the  wilderness.  There,  in  loneli- 
ness and  in  unsocial  abstraction  and  selfishness,  he 
is  to  commune  with  his  God.  The  Christian,  on  the 
other  hand,  must  not  flee  from  men,  but  carry  his 
message  and  his  life  to  them,  and  impart  unto  them 
the  richest  blessings  which  have  come  to  his  own 
life.  Thus  only  shall  he  realize  the  best  that  is 
within  him,  and  shall  exemplify  true  love,  which  is 
the  very  heart  of  his  religion.  The  Crescent  and 
the  Trident  may  be  the  emblems  of  other  religions  ; 
the  Cross  (the  true  expression  of  self-denying  altruism) 
is  the  only  emblem  which  can  adequately  express 
the  nature  of  our  religion,  and  the  duty  of  every 
Christian. 

In  order  to  elicit  this  love  and  human  sympathy 
the  Christian  must  realize  the  deepest  need  of  the 
non-Christian  world.  Never  before  did  the  Chrisr 
tian  Church  know  so  well  the  abject  spiritual 
poverty  and  gross  degradation  and  sin  of  the  world 
outside  of  Christ  as  it  knows  itto-day.  Christ  Him- 
self emphasized  this  need.  How  He  wept  over 
Jerusalem  as  He  realized  well  the  bitterness  of  its 
spirit  and  the  terrible  judgment  which  was  awaiting 
it !  Think  of  the  significance  of  His  parable  of  the 
Coming  Judgment,  where,  by  indirection.  He  de- 
scribes men  as  being  **sick  and  imprisoned  and 
naked."     Or  think  of  His  other  parable  enforcing 


42  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

the  need  of  prayer,  where  the  friend  comes  at  mid- 
night and  is  hungry  and  in  desperate  need  of  help 
and  of  refreshment.  In  a  thousand  ways  He  re- 
vealed a  deep  appreciation  of  the  abject  condi- 
tion and  the  deep  need  of  the  world  for  Himself 
and  His  salvation.  Every  true  disciple  and  mes- 
senger of  our  Lord  will  be  imbued  with  His  Spirit 
of  compassion,  and  with  His  vision  of  suffering. 
No  one  can  live  to-day,  in  non-Christian  lands, 
without  witnessing,  with  profound  sadness;  the  cry- 
ing need  of  our  gospel  message  upon  the  part  of 
that  sin-sodden  and  degraded  people. 

{b)  The  command  of  our  Lord  to  His  disciples. 
His  Last  Commission  to  go  and  disciple  all  na- 
tions has  acquired  a  greater  prominence  among 
His  commands  and  a  more  authoritative  place 
among  the  convictions  of  the  Church  than  ever  be- 
fore. The  solemnity  of  that  declaration  and  com- 
mand and  promise  (Matt,  xxviii.  16-20)  has  acquired 
a  new  power  over,  and  brought  a  new  message  of 
blessing  to,  the  Church  of  God  in  our  day.  It  was 
not  only  His  last  command ;  it  was  also  a  clear 
declaration  of  the  nature  of  His  Kingdom  and  of 
His  purpose  to  make  it  world-wide.  When  the 
Christian  hesitates,  to-day,  he  finds  recourse  once 
more  to  this  last  Commission  of  his  Lord  and  real- 
izes, with  more  vividness  than  ever,  that  his  faith 
involves  and  brings  to  him  an  obligation  to  rest  not 
and  keep  not  quiet  until  men  in  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  shall  learn  of  Christ  and  His  salvation. 

{c)    In  like  manner  the  Lord's  example  is  to  the 


Its  Subjective  Source  43 

modern  disciple  an  inspiration  to  this  same  service. 
To  every  servant  of  His  He  says,  "  Follow  Me."  He 
is  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle  -in  the  great  world 
conflict  of  spiritual  forces.  Even  while  He  says 
"  Go  "  He  also  adds  the  blessed  assurance,  "  Lo  I 
am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world."  Wheresoever  the  missionary  carries  his 
message  he  finds  the  Lord  already  there.  And  in 
no  particular  does  he  follow  his  Lord  more  surely 
than  in  his  descent  to  the  lowest  valley  of  Christian 
service  among  the  most  benighted  heathen  of  the 
world.  The  vision  of  the  condescending,  self-effac- 
ing and  self-emptying  Christ  is  the  highest  incentive 
to  missionary  Hfe  and  activity. 

(d)  The  adequacy  of  His  resources  are  inspir- 
ing. The  Christian  of  to-day  knows,  as  the  Chris- 
tian of  no  past  time  knew,  the  fullness  of  the  divine 
resources  which  are  his  as  he  carries  this  Gospel  to 
all  men  who  know  it  not. 

He  knows  the  all-satisfying  power  of  Christ  Him- 
self. Christ's  promise  to  His  disciples,  **  Lo,  I  am 
with  you  always " — how  it  renews  his  courage ! 
The  assurance  that  He  is  with  him  in  all  his  efforts 
to  bring  souls  unto  Him,  and  in  all  his  passion  for 
their  redemption  and  elevation — what  a  comfort  and 
inspiration  this  thought  brings!  No  discourage- 
ment and  not  a  moment's  hesitation  can  overtake 
one  in  the  hardest  tasks  and  when  confronted  by 
greatest  opposition,  since  he  remembers  that  Christ 
Himself,  with  His  infinite  power,  authority  and  love, 
is  ever  at  his  side,  yea,  in  his  heart ! 


44  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

The  Holy  Spirit  Himself  is  promised  unto  such  as 
carry  His  message  to,  and  are  in  deep  sympathy 
with,  the  Christless  world.  Jesus  taught  that  it  is 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  one  which 
brings  that  power  that  enables  him  to  go  forth,  as 
Christ's  own  witness,  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  (Acts  i.  8). 

It  is  of  infinite  importance  that  the  Church  of  God 
feel  that  success  and  triumph  in  this  great  work  of 
spreading  His  Kingdom  depends  upon  God  Him- 
self, "  Not  by  army  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit, 
saith  the  Lord."  All  the  resources  of  civilization,  of 
education,  of  philanthropy  and  of  other  agenciies  for 
human  betterment  would  be  absolutely  futile  without 
the  accompanying  and  all-controlling  influence  of 
God's  own  presence  and  power,  working  within  the 
Church  and  within  every  Christian  servant  labouring 
for  His  Kingdom.  It  must  always  be  what  it  was  in 
apostolic  days,  of  which  St.  Mark  wrote  that,  "  They 
went  forth  and  preached  everywhere,  the  Lord 
working  with  them  and  confirming  the  work  by  the 
signs  that  followed." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  call  attention,  also,  to 
this  Gospel  of  blessing  and  of  power — to  the 
rich  beauty  of  its  truth,  the  sweet  winsomeness  of 
its  message,  the  marvellous  inspiration  of  its  prom- 
ises, its  comforting  words  of  grace  to  men  in 
all  conditions,  and  its  divine  revelation  of  human 
need  and  of  divine  compassion.  How  can  a  Church 
fail  in  the  dissemination  of  such  a  Gospel  as 
this! 


Its  Subjective  Source  4^ 

Thus  there  has  come  to  us  a  new  light  upon  God's 
Word,  and  such  a  light  as  leads  the  Church  forward 
in  its  missionary  enterprise  and  will  increasingly 
give  strength  and  inspiration  to  all  who  are  in- 
terested in  this  cause,  until  the  whole  world  shall 
come  to  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  crown  Him  Lord  of  all. 


II 


The  New  Conditions  Which  it  Furnishes 


\. 


IT  is  less  than  a  brief  century  since  nearly  every 
nation  was  fenced  in  by  a  thousand  idiosyncra- 
sies and  gazed  with  jealousy,  suspicion  and 
surly  defiance,  if  not  with  hatred,  upon  every  other 
people.  At  that  time,  to  be  a  foreigner  was  to  be 
an  enemy.  Nations  were  then  largely  ignorant  of 
each  other,  or  knew  only  what  was  worst,  and  inter- 
preted what  they  knew  of  all  outsiders  in  the  most 
uncomplimentary  way.  Selfishness  was  supreme  in 
the  inter-racial  attitude.  Even  among  Christian  na- 
tions this  was  largely  true;  but,  for  non- Christian 
people  the  terms  used  were  ''  infidels,"  "  pagans,'' 
"  heathen,"  **  barbarians,"  and  such  like.  And  the 
sentiments  expressed  by  these  words  were  heartily 
reciprocated,  with  compound  interest,  by  the  non- 
Christian  world  in  such  epithets  as  "mletchas," 
"  foreign  devils,"  etc. 

To-day  a  marvellous  change  has  overtaken  Chris- 
tendom in  this  respect. 

I 
Consider  the  modern  cosmopolitism  of  the  Chris- 
tian.    He  has  become,  generally  speaking,  a  new 
man   with   a   world  vision  and  a  world  sympathy. 
For   him,  outsiders  are  no  longer  to  be  religiously 

46 


The  New  Conditions  47 

shunned,  or  to  be  consigned,  en  masse^  to  eternal 
perdition.  Though  not  exactly  on  equal  terms,  yet 
in  a  remarkably  new  way  and  in  a  modern  spirit,  he 
is  prepared  to  consider  men  of  other  faiths  and  na- 
tions of  other  cults  with  a  consideration  and  an  ap- 
preciation that  he  never  knew  before. 

This  is  owing  to  several  significant  facts  and  mod- 
ern conditions  which  have  overtaken  him. 

[a)  Through  scientific  discoveries  and  inventions 
which  have  brought  the  whole  world  together. 
Forces,  which  a  century  ago,  were  entirely  unknown, 
have  been  discovered,  and  others,  which  were  only 
partially  understood  and  dreaded,  have  been  com- 
pelled to  give  up  their  secrets,  and  have  been  har- 
nessed to  the  car  of  human  progress.  Steam,  light, 
electricity  and  even  the  impalpable  ether  have  each 
and  all  been  reduced  to  servitude  in  the  interests  of 
human  progress,  and  have  become  the  messengers 
of  man  to  transport  him  in  comfort  and  with  ever 
accelerating  speed  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 
They  are  also  utilized  in  novel  and  surprising  ways 
to  communicate  his  thoughts  and  purposes  in  brief- 
est moments  to  his  antipodes.  When  the  American 
Board,  less  than  a  century  ago,  began  its  work  in 
the  Hawaiian  Islands,  it  took  months  to  send  its 
missionaries  to  that  field,  as  it  did  to  send  all  com- 
munications to  them.  To-day,  instructions  can  be 
sent  to  those  islands  by  cable,  not  only  in  inappre- 
ciable time  ;  but  a  message  sent  from  the  Boston 
headquarters  arrives  at  its  destination  five  hours  be- 
fore the  recorded  time  of  its  departure  1     The  elec- 


48  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

tion  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  was  known 
to  the  writer  some  years  ago  in  a  hamlet  in  South 
India,  when  it  was  yet  but  midnight  of  the  election 
day  in  California,  and  before  the  result  was  known 
to  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  I 
The  evening  offerings  of  a  New  York  gathering  for 
the  famine  sufferers  of  India  were  distributed  the 
next  morning  in  food  and  raiment  to  famishing 
thousands  of  that  land.  This  afternoon's  riot  in 
China  comes  to  us  upon  electric  wings  and  is  com- 
municated to  us  in  this  morning's  paper  I  How  few 
are  the  portions  of  the  world  which  are  not  now 
thus  bound  to  us  by  the  mighty,  timeless,  ceaseless 
forces  of ,  nature.  They  draw  near  to  us,  by  their 
multiplying  agencies,  all  the  far-off  lands  of  our 
small  planet ;  they  annihilate  distance  and  make  a 
mock  of  time. 

Or,  consider  that  which  has  become  so  prosaic 
and  universal,  the  railroads  of  the  world.  What 
changes  they  have  wrought!  Merchant  and  mis- 
sionary alike  travel,  to-day,  in  comfort  on  well-built 
railroads  and,  perchance,  in  Pullman  cars,  in  coun- 
tries and  through  regions  which,  a  generation  or  a 
decade  ago,  were  either  inaccessible  or  reached  only 
with  great  difficulty.  Think  of  the  modern  con- 
veniences of  Africa  where  railroads  carried  in  com- 
fort ex-President  Roosevelt  and  his  party  nearly  a 
thousand  miles  into  the  interior,  taking  only  two 
days  to  convey  them  to  regions  which  required 
months  of  unspeakable  toil,  danger  and  deprivation 
to  reach,  by  the  missionary,  twenty  years  ago.    There 


The  New  Conditions  49 

is  now  hardly  a  section  of  India  which  does  not 
Hsten  to  the  whistle  and  rumble  of  the  modern  iron 
god  of  travel,  and  which  is  not  reached  by  the  mes- 
senger of  the  Cross  with  none  of  the  vexatious  trials 
and  discomforts  of  his  predecessor,  a  half  cen- 
tury ago. 

{b)  The  growing  habit  of  travel  among  the  peo- 
ple of  Christian  lands  is  remarkable.  A  decade  ago 
a  resident  of  New  England,  and  a  man  of  promi- 
nence in  the  community,  died  and  was  laid  to  rest, 
who  never  had  slept  a  night  outside  the  walls  of  his 
own  home.  How  impossible  to  find  such  a  man  at 
the  present  time  I  He  who  had  crossed  an  ocean 
was  a  rarity  a  generation  ago ;  now  it  is  hard  to 
meet  one  who  has  not  crossed  the  boundaries  of  his 
own  land  and  sojourned  among  strangers.  Multi- 
tudes in  our  days  pass  from  one  continent  to  an- 
other and  even  encircle  the  globe ;  and  they  com- 
pare notes  and  write  books  of  their  experiences  with 
such  frequency  as  to  make  every  reader  familiar 
with  the  sights  and  scenes,  the  life  and  habits  of 
these  far-ofi  lands.  Thomas  Cook  and  Son  is  not 
only  a  name  to  be  conjured  with  in  every  port  on  the 
habitable  globe ;  it  is  a  firm  which  has  wrought 
wonders  in  stirring  up  within  men  a  passion  to  see 
foreign  lands  and  in  enabling  hosts  of  people  to 
visit,  with  ease  and  comfort  and  to  understand  with 
fair  intelligence,  regions  which  were  yesterday  un- 
known except  to  explorers,  missionaries  and  distin- 
guished travellers.  This  is  but  one  among  many 
firms  which  have  come  into  existence,  during  the 


50  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

last  few  years,  to  satisfy  the  modern  ambition  to  see 
the  world  and  to  know  regions  and  peoples  which 
were  absolute  strangers  to  civilization  a  few  decades 
ago. 

The  result  of  this  modern  spirit  of  unrest  is  wit- 
nessed in  an  amazing  way  at  the  present  time  in 
America.  This  land  is  the  modern  Mecca  of  millions 
from  the  many  nations  of  Europe  and  the  East,  men 
who  were  pressed  and  driven,  in  their  own  countries, 
to  the  verge  of  poverty  and  destitution.  They  seek 
release  from  their  bondage,  and  are  ambitious  for  a 
broader  life,  with  a  larger  horizon  and  greater  pos- 
sibilities of  blessing  and  power.  The  spell  of  the 
great  land  of  the  West  is  upon  them.  Every  month 
brings  thousands  of  these  people  of  many  civiliza- 
tions and  of  no  civilization,  of  many  languages  and 
divers  habits  and  inherited  antipathies — they  all 
come  to  America,  the  new  land  of  promise  and  of 
strange  potentialities.  They  meet  together,  mingle 
with  each  other,  and,  through  the  influence  of  the 
public  school  system,  our  intoxicating  civilization, 
religious  freedom  and  human  equality,  they  form  a 
new  race  amalgam  and  are  creating,  as  they  are 
solving,  problems  before  unknown,  or  at  least  never 
solved,  in  the  development  of  the  human  race. 
What  an  astonishing  gathering  of  the  races,  what  a 
wonderful  working  out  of  the  problem  of  human 
destiny,  what  a  strange  evolution  of  a  new  racial 
product,  and  what  a  mighty,  modern,  national  en- 
tity we  are  permitted  to  witness  in  America  to-day  1 
All  this  has  been  made  possible  by  modern  conveni- 


The  New  Conditions  51 

ences  of  travel ;  and  who  knows  whether  it  is  to  re- 
sult in  unspeakable  blessing  or  in  an  unexampled 
disaster  to  our  country  ? 

(c)  With  this,  and  partly  because  of  this,  we  are 
now  witnessing  a  marvellous  growth  of  knowledge 
concerning  the  non-Christian  people  of  the  world. 

Stanley  went  forth,  as  a  man  of  affairs,  to  find 
Livingstone,  and  he  discovered  Africa.  How  won- 
derfully the  discovery  transformed  that  intrepid  ex- 
plorer himself;  and  how  much  more  did  bis  narra- 
tive of  the  life  of  the  Dark  Continent  bring  a  new 
impulse,  a  new  sense  of  duty  and  a  glorious  con- 
sciousness of  opportunity  to  the  whole  Christian 
world.  How  profoundly  it  stirred  men  everywhere 
and  led  them  to  understand  and  seek  to  remedy 
"  the  running  sore  of  the  world." 

A  very  few  years  ago  Korea  was  a  hermit  nation, 
whose  chief  ambition  was  to  be  let  alone.  But  the 
time  came,  partly  through  the  sordid  and  base  am- 
bitions of  other  nations,  when  that  sleepy,  innocent 
and  helpless  people  had  to  be  shaken  out  of  their 
isolation,  and  their  country  be  made  the  arena  of  the 
ambitions  of  foreigners.  But,  out  of  the  turmoil  and 
the  grasping  avarice  of  the  three  nations  which  ex- 
ploited her,  God  has  brought,  or  is  rapidly  bringing, 
Korea  unto  her  own.  He  has  opened  her  eyes  to 
her  backward  condition,  and  has  given  her  a  new 
and  living  touch  with  modern  civilization,  and  also 
with  the  most  advanced  type  of  Christian  life  and 
activity.  Thus  she  is  being  prepared  for  national 
self-direction,  independence  and  power. 


52  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

It  was  only  yesterday  that  that  other  hermit  land, 
Tibet,  rested  peaceably  in  its  own  seclusion.  What 
country  seemed  more  surely  destined  by  nature  to 
remain  the  home  of  a  hermit  people?  There, 
perched  on  ''the  roof  of  the  world"  and  protected 
by  mountain  ranges  and  forbidding  cold,  it  seemed 
an  ideal  abode  of  the  mysterious  Dalai  Lama  and 
his  Buddhistic  host  Yet,  even  Tibet  could  not  be 
exempted  from  the  penalties  of  modern  curiosity 
and  racial  ambition.  The  great  nations  of  the  earth 
had  their  eyes  upon  it,  because  it  was  supposed  to 
be  in  the  way  of  their  progress.  Thus,  in  a  few 
short  years,  the  stubborn  Lama  was  compelled  to 
flee  from  his  own  land — a  flight  which  has  termi- 
nated just  now  in  his  ignominious  pursuit  by  the 
Chinese  government  into  British  territory  1  All  this 
is  cruel  injustice  to  an  innocent  people.  But  hereby 
God  is  opening  the  doors  of  that  strange  land,  and 
exposing,  to  the  camera  of  the  world,  that  erstwhile 
unknown  and  misunderstood  country.  Through 
this  new  knowledge  of  the  people  a  new  door  of  ac- 
cess and  of  power  has  been  opened  to  make  known 
the  message  of  Christ  and  His  salvation  to  them. 

One  part  of  this  method  of  contributing  to  the 
knowledge  of  non- Christian  people  is  the  activity  of 
the  many  publishing  houses  which  are  pouring  forth 
a  mighty,  and  an  ever-increasing,  stream  of  litera- 
ture concerning  the  far-oflE  lands  which  are  beyond 
the  pale  of  civilization.  There  is  hardly  a  land  con- 
cerning which  modern,  up-to-date  books  have  not 
been  written  by  expert  missionaries,  statesmen,  ex- 


The  New  Conditions  53 

plorers  and  travellers.  They  reveal  a  careful  analy- 
sis of  the  life  and  thought,  and  a  full  description  of 
the  habits  and  customs,  of  nearly  all  the  tribes  and 
peoples  of  the  distant  and  inaccessible  portions  of 
the  world. 

{d)  A  new  commercial  interest  in  foreign  and 
non-Christian  peoples  has  become  a  prominent 
feature  of  modern  enterprise,  as  it  is  becoming  an 
important  element  in  the  attitude  of  the  civilized 
world  towards  those  lands.  Our  Western  kings  of 
commerce  are  seeking  new  lands  to  conquer  for 
trade,  new  populations  to  exploit  for  their  valuable 
resources,  and  fresh  markets  to  receive  the  marvel- 
lously multiplied  products  of  the  West.  The  great 
commercial  nations  of  the  world  are  eagerly  sending 
forth  their  consular  and  other  agencies,  even  to  the 
remotest  regions,  with  a  view  to  urge  those  awaking 
peoples  to  open  doors  of  trade  for  their  growing, 
greedy  commerce.  There  is  no  other  interest  in  the 
world  which  is  more  active  and  aggressive  and  more 
wide  awake  to  its  opportunity  than  that  of  trade  and 
commerce.  With  excess  of  zeal,  with  cruel  persist- 
ence and  with  haughty,  threatening  mien,  manu- 
facturers demand  an  open  door  among  all  these 
people  to  sell  the  many  articles  of  their  factories. 
And  with  these  products  of  their  mechanical  inge- 
nuity, they  export  also  much  of  the  base,  immoral 
elements  of  their  civilization. 

But,  thanks  be  unto  God,  the  man  of  commerce  is 
rarely  unaccompanied  by  the  missionary.  It  has 
been  said,  to  our  shame,  that  the  same  ships  have 


54  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

carried  the  missionary  and  rum  into  Africa.  Com- 
merce has  not  been  an  unmixed  evil  to  any  of  those 
lands.  Even  when  not  preceded  by  the  missionary, 
the  man  of  commerce  is  a  forerunner  of  the  mes- 
senger of  the  Cross,  and  often  prepares  the  way  for 
him  to  exercise  his  influence  and  power  for  the  re- 
demption of  the  people. 

(e)  Besides  this  there  has  grown  an  increasing 
familiarity  with,  and  a  thorough  study  of,  the  re- 
ligions of  the  non-Christian  races.  It  is  only  the 
brief  stretch  of  one  generation  since  all  the  non- 
Christian  faiths  were  classified  together.  There 
were  tribes  and  races  in  Africa  and  in  Asia,  which, 
a  generation  ago,  were  supposed  to  be  without  any 
faith,  and  devoid  of  any  religious  ideas  and  purposes. 
They  were  supposed  to  be  the  godless  brutes  of  a 
day,  the  denizens  of  this  world  only.  It  is  astonish- 
ing to  think  what  dense  ignorance  prevailed,  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  concerning  the  re- 
ligions of  the  people  who  were  not  a  part  of  Chris- 
tendom. 

But  the  new  science  of  Comparative  Religion  has 
brought  to  us  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  of  religious 
knowledge.  We  no  longer  believe,  as  our  fathers 
did,  that  all  faiths  which  did  not  find  their  origin  in 
our  sacred  Scriptures  are  the  offspring  of  the  evil 
one  and  are  his  mighty  agencies  in  debasing  untold 
millions,  and  in  consigning  a  moiety  of  our  race  to 
eternal  perdition.  We  live  under  the  growing  light 
and  effulgence  of  this  modern  science  which  compares 
intelligently,  and  classifies  wisely,  the  faiths  of  the 


The  New  Conditions  ^^ 

world.  It  not  only  analyzes  and  classifies  the  many 
ethnic  and  other  non-Christian  religions  ;  it  also 
dignifies  them  by  ascribing  to  them  a  message  and 
a  mission  in  the  religious  progress  of  our  race  ;  and 
by  showing  them  to  be  not  of  satanic  origin,  but  the 
pathetic  and  blind  groping  of  sin-sick  souls,  seeking 
after  God  and  craving  right  relationship  to  Him.  It 
shows  every  one  of  these  religions  to  be  in  possession 
of  teachings  worthy  to  be  conserved  and  utilized, 
as  well  as  of  others  which  should  be  discarded 
and  overthrown.  The  science  of  Comparative  Re- 
ligion reveals  in  these  faiths  some  genuine  worth 
— elements  which  should  be  properly  correlated  to 
Christian  truth  and  brought  into  subjection  to  the 
Christ  life  and  ideal  and  to  the  Christian  scheme 
of  redemption.  What  a  wonderful  light  is  thus 
thrown,  even  upon  our  own  unique  and  divine  re- 
ligion, by  comparing  it  with  the  inadequate  and  un- 
satisfying teachings  of  the  other  great  faiths  of  the 
world  ;  and  by  revealing  its  supremacy  and  power 
as  a  system  of  truth  and  of  life  ! 

(/)  Through  all  this  there  has  come  into  the 
spirit  of  man  that  sense  of  universal  brotherhood 
which  is  so  characteristic  of  our  day.  A  growing 
knowledge  of  the  people  of  all  lands  not  only  creates 
an  interest  in  them  and  in  their  affairs ;  it  also  gene- 
rates a  neighbourly  interest  and  a  sense  of  kinship, 
which  is  not  only  novel  and  striking,  but  which  is 
revolutionary  in  its  influence  upon  man  everywhere. 
It  raises  the  question  whether  these  erstwhile  stran- 
gers and  foes  are  not,  after  all,  our  kith  and  kin — 


56  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

whether  there  is  not,  deeper  than  the  discords  of 
colour,  language  and  custom,  an  undertone  of  con- 
sanguinity and  of  close  human  relationship  whose 
vibrations,  subtle  as  the  ether,  play,  and  must  in- 
creasingly play,  upon  human  hearts  the  world  over. 
Joseph  Cook  said  that  '*  the  nineteenth  century  made 
the  world  one  neighbourhood  ;  the  twentieth  century 
should  make  it  one  brotherhood."  There  is  nothing 
so  marked  in  the  trend  of  Christendom  as  thFs  grow- 
ing Christian  consciousness  of  the  essential  unity  of 
all  the  races  of  men  ;  not  only  in  their  origin  as  the 
sons  of  one  Father,  but  also  in  their  destiny,  as  the 
members  of  one  great  family  who  are  to  work  to- 
gether in  loving  sympathy  and  in  genuine  harmony 
for  their  mutual  uplift  and  ultimate  salvation. 

II 

The  world  has  been  marvellously  opened,  during 
the  last  fifty  years,  to  the  gospel  messenger  and  to 
his  message.  A  few  brief  years  ago  the  most  com- 
mon missionary  prayer  offered  was  that  God  might 
open  the  closed  doors  of  heathen  lands  in  order  that 
His  messengers  of  truth  and  grace  might  enter 
therein.  That  prayer  is  now  rarely  offered,  because 
God  has  answered  it  and  has  thrown  wide  open  the 
doors  of  opportunity  for  Christian  service  and  for  the 
propagation  of  our  faith  in  most  lands  even  unto  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 

It  is  not  true  that  all  nations  and  tribes  are  eagerly, 
or  even  consciously,  seeking  the  gospel  message. 
As   in   apostolic  days,  so  at  the  present  time,  the 


The  New  Conditions  57 

Macedonian  cry  is  heard  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
It  is  the  call  of  God  for  service  and  the  cry  of  human 
need  for  help  which  comes  to  the  Christian  Church 
from  every  land.  And  yet  it  comes  now,  as  it  came 
to  the  apostles  of  old,  "  with  stripes  and  imprison- 
ment." The  Macedonians  persecuted,  beat  and  im- 
prisoned the  very  men  who  responded  to  the  call  of 
their  need.  The  same  experience  comes  to  the  mis- 
sionary messenger,  as  he  enters  the  needy  fields  of 
the  world  to-day.     He  must  expect  to  be  reviled. 

Shall  the  missionary  carry  to  a  people  his  mes- 
sage and  urge  upon  them  his  new  faith  without  re- 
ceiving any  invitation  from  them  ?  Has  he  a  right 
to  thrust  upon  them  his  message  and  to  compel 
them  to  listen,  against  their  will,  to  his  Gospel  ?  It 
is  the  same  old  question  that  has  recurred  through- 
out the  centuries.  We  read  of  One  who,  twenty 
centuries  ago,  "  came  unto  His  own  and  His  own 
received  Him  not."  The  all-sufficient  reason  why 
Christ  came  into  the  world  was  the  desperate  need  of 
the  people  of  that  day.  He  was  despised  and  His 
message  was  spurned ;  and  He  was  finally  killed  for 
His  service.  Yet  who  would  ask  the  question 
whether  it  was  right  for  Christ  to  come,  under  those 
circumstances,  with  His  new  faith  and  message  of 
life  unto  the  Jewish  people  ?  At  the  present  time  it 
is  enough  that  the  servant  follow  his  Lord.  To  the 
true  missionary,  the  real  question  is  not  whether  a 
people  want  him,  but,  rather,  whether  they  need 
him.  It  is  not  their  invitation  that  must  be  the  door- 
way of  his  service  to  them,  but  rather  their  spiritual 


58  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

condition.  The  patient  whose  condition  is  such  that 
he  seeks  not  a  physician  and  asks  for  no  remedy, 
reveals  thereby  that  his  condition  is  a  desperate  one 
and  that  his  need  is  supreme  and  most  urgent. 

There  is  martyrdom  awaiting  many  a  messenger 
of  Christ  at  the  present  time  in  Turkey,  in  China  and 
in  other  lands.  There  is  scorn,  contempt  and  oppo- 
sition in  India.  There  is  persecution  from  the  hoary 
institutions  which  are  attacked,  and  from  the  vested 
rights  which  are  antagonized  by  the  Christian  faith. 
There  is  Roman  Catholic  opposition  awaiting  him 
in  Europe  and  in  South  America.  Everywhere  prej- 
udice and  hostility  lurk  for  the  man  whose  business 
is  '*  to  turp  the  world  upside  down."  The  sinful 
hearts  of  men,  the  jealousies  of  hierarchies,  priestly 
rage  and  the  bitterness  of  the  organized  forces  and 
religious  institutions  which  are  being  overthrown — 
all  of  these  are  as  common  to-day  as  they  ever 
were,  as  the  reward  of  faithful  Christian  service.  In 
Mohammedan  countries  the  aggressive  mien  of  Islam 
is  perhaps  more  noticeable  than  ever  before,  es- 
pecially at  some  of  its  great  centres  of  activity  and 
power. 

Yet  there  are  a  few  significant  facts  which  are 
very,  encouraging  to  all  those  engaged  in  the  Chris- 
tian propaganda  in  non-Christian  countries. 

The  governments  of  the  world,  generally  speak- 
ing, guarantee  to  the  missionary  of  the  Cross  wel- 
come and  protection.  More  than  a  hundred  years 
ago  the  first  English  missionaries  to  India,  and,  a 
little  later  on,  the  first  American  missionaries  to  that 


The  New  Conditions  59 

land,  were  not  permitted  to  enter,  to  live  or  to  work  in 
the  territories  of  the  Honourable  East  India  Company. 
They  had  no  place  for  the  missionary  ;  and  they  re- 
garded his  message  as  an  impertinence.  They 
drove  him  out  of  their  borders  mercilessly,  and  gave 
him  no  quarter.  To-day,  the  government  of  India 
not  only  welcomes  the  missionary,  but  cordially  pro- 
tects him  and  has  nothing  but  hearty  words  of  ap- 
preciation for  the  noble  services  which  he  is  render- 
ing to  the  land  and  the  people.  Even  in  Japan,  in 
China,  in  Turkey,  and  in  other  non-Christiain  lands, 
the  missionary  is  a  persona  grata  with  the  powers 
that  be,  because  they  know  that  he  is  a  messenger 
of  peace,  of  light  and  of  life.  And,  above  all,  they 
know  that  they  have  no  right  as  a  people  to  deny 
him  a  hearing  and  to  refuse  audience  to  his  message. 
The  non-Christian  peoples  of  the  world  are  in- 
creasingly ready  to  listen  to  the  gospel  message. 
In  China,  the  missionaries  tell  us  that  the  people  re- 
veal, in  ordinary  times,  great  friendliness  and  fur- 
nish abundant  liberty  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Where  opposition  was  encountered  in  the  past, 
attentive  audience  and  growing  appreciation  are 
now  revealed.  The  stolid  indifTerence  of  the  past  is 
gradually  giving  way,  and  new  thoughtfulness  con- 
cerning religious  things,  and  a  new  breadth  of  vision 
are  taking  its  place.  Missionaries  in  Manchuria  and 
in  Mongolia  are  encouraged  with  the  same  popular 
attitude  of  appreciation.  In  Korea  there  has  been  a 
wonderful  change  during  the  last  few  years.  Nearly 
the  whole  population  of  that  land  have  their  ears 


6o  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

open  to  the  Christian  message.  Never  in  all  the 
history  of  that  country  have  they  revealed  such  a 
lack  of  confidence  in  their  old  faiths  and  interest  in 
Christianity  as  at  the  present  time.  Not  only  the 
common  people,  but  those  high  in  position  and 
power,  are  attentive  to  the  Christian  message. 

**  Turkey  is  another  striking  example  of  change. 
In  some  respects  the  recent  Turkish  revolution  has 
been  the  most  remarkable  which  has  ever  taken 
place  in  any  nation.  Autocracy  has  .been  done 
away  with,  and  a  modern  constitution  has  been 
granted.  The  key-notes  of  the  revolution  have  been 
*  Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity  and  Justice.'  Great 
social  and  educational  changes  have  resulted.  The 
whole  population  is  awake  and  thinking  as  never  be- 
fore. The  bondage  of  custom  has  been  shaken. 
New  literature  is  pouring  into  the  country.  The 
mails  have  more  than  doubled  in  volume.  Meetings 
for  the  discussion  of  topics  pertaining  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  country  are  being  held  "  (Commission  I). 

Even  in  darkest  Africa,  where  so  much  of  gross 
superstition,  barbarism  and  even  cannibalism  are 
rife,  wonderful  changes  have  taken  place  since  the 
days  of  Livingstone,  who  gave  his  life  for  that  sorely 
depressed  and  oppressed  people.  To-day  there  are 
remarkable  movements  all  over  that  continent,  re- 
vealing the  fact  that  the  day  of  Christian  opportunity 
has  already  dawned.  Even  kings  and  chieftains  are 
seeking  light  and  blessing  for  their  people.  How 
striking  the  message  of  King  Ndombe  to  King  Leo- 
pold  and   President   McKinley,  a   few   years   ago! 


The  New  Conditions  6l 

**  Ndombe  requests  the  great  white  kings  to  send  out 
to  his  country  men  who  have  good  hearts  to  help  the 
black  people,  to  teach  them,  to  keep  the  peace  with 
them,  and  to  be  their  friends.  To  such  men  our 
hearts  are  open,  and  behold  I  the  land  is  theirs. 
When  these  things  shall  be  done  all  shall  be  well  in 
the  country  of  Ndombe,  from  the  waters  of  all  the 
great  rivers  even  unto  the  mountains  of  the  setting 
sun." 

Ill 

The  present  attitude  of  non-Christian  peoples  is 
deeply  interesting. 

The  Asiatic  peoples,  who,  for  a  few  centuries  suf- 
fered almost  total  eclipse,  both  on  account  of  their 
own  decadence  and  because  of  the  modern  arising 
and  military  assertion  of  the  Occident,  are  now  again 
revealing  a  new  consciousness  of  power.  We,  of 
the  West,  have  long  regarded  them  as  our  helpless 
wards ;  but  they  are  no  longer  willing  to  be  domi- 
nated or  driven  to  the  wall  by  the  arrogant  young 
races  of  the  West.  There  is  nothing  more  striking 
in  modern  times  than  the  new  attitude  of  these  peo- 
ple of  the  East. 

Japan,  under  compulsion  of  American  guns,  a  half 
century  ago,  opened  her  doors  to  Western  life  and  in- 
fluence. How  strangely  has  she,  out  of  her  past  im- 
mobility, suddenly  leaped  into  progress  and  world- 
wide prominence !  She  has  achieved  this  largely 
because  she  has  copied  from  the  West,  and  has  even 
improved  upon  its  method,  and  has  added,  to  all 


62  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

these,  her  own  unique  patriotism,  which  has  always 
distinguished  her,  and  which,  upon  the  recent  batde- 
field  of  Manchuria,  gave  her  a  new  prestige  and 
power  among  the  leading  military  races  of  the  world. 
Japan  is  to-day  an  apt  pupil  in  the  modern  world- 
school,  and  is  trying  to  realize  in  character  that 
which  she  has  achieved  through  arms,  and  to  capi- 
talize her  valour  and  military  prowess  in  terms  of 
educational  advance  and  moral  worth.  And,  what 
is  both  significant  and  pathetic,  Japan  is. trying  to 
build  a  new  faith  without  a  God,  and  a  system  of 
ethics  without  divine  sanction.  In  the  thrill  of  her 
modern  excitement  she  has  wrought  out  for  herself 
a  new  religion  of  the  name  '*  Tenrikkyo."  It  is  a 
strange  compound,  different  from  Buddhism  and 
non-idolatrous.  Already  nearly  four  millions  of  the 
inhabitants  of  that  land  have  accepted  the  new  faith 
which  has  been  definitely  recognized  by  the  State  as 
one  of  the  religious  forces  of  the  country. 

China,  also,  is  coming  to  her  own  in  a  remarkable 
way.  For  millenniums  she  was  content  to  go  on 
in  her  good  old  way.  During  all  these  centuries  she 
surpassed  many  peoples  by  her  culture,  her  faiths, 
and  her  ethical  standard.  But  her  equipment  suf- 
ficed only  for  a  benighted  and  stagnant  past.  In  the 
throbbing  new  life  and  unrest  of  the  modern  world 
China  had  no  message,  no  inspiration,  and  no  up- 
lift, for  her  own  teeming  millions.  She  is  conscious 
of  her  helplessness,  and  realizes  that  she  has  fallen 
back  most  pitifully  in  her  race  and  conflict  with  the 
West.     In  all  things  she  had  become  stereotyped  and 


The  New  Conditions  63 

lifeless.  Under  these  circumstances  China  is  begin- 
ning to  do  the  only  thing  possible  for  her.  She  has 
entered  upon  the  great  quest  of  the  Eastern  world, 
after  more  light  and  a  new  source  of  Hfe  and  power. 
For  thousands  of  years  she  was  self-centred  and  self- 
satisfied.  To-day  she  has  embarked  upon  the  sea 
of  change  and  unrest.  And  who  knows  the  harbour 
into  which  she  will  finally  enter  and  find  peace  and 
plenty  to  her  soul  ? 

Perhaps  no  people  in  the  Far  East  have  been 
so  crushed  by  external  forces,  and  have  been  im- 
pelled by  their  own  helplessness  to  seek  for  new 
guidance  and  blessing,  as  have  the  Koreans  during 
the  last  decade  or  two.  A  quiet,  harmless  people, 
without  great  ambition  and  wanting  in  aggressive 
energy,  they  have  lost  their  political  independence 
and  liberty.  But,  in  their  political  weakness,  and 
hampered  by  their  newly  forged  fetters,  they  have 
become  conscious  of  their  defects  and  their  needs, 
and  are  now,  in  a  marked  degree,  turning  their  faces 
heavenward  and  westward,  and  crying  for  a  new 
life  and  for  heavenly  guidance  to  a  blessing  and 
power  which  will  save  them  from  the  thralldom  of 
ignorance,  superstition,  sin,  and  foreign  dominion. 

What  is  that  life-and-death  struggle  for  constitu- 
tional liberty  which  recently  thrilled  the  ancient  land 
of  Persia  ?  It  is  nothing  else  than  the  outward  mani- 
festation of  that  new  life  and  ambition  which  is  cours- 
ing through  the  veins  of  all  Asia  at  the  present  time. 

And  we  are  now  listening  to  the  songs  of  praise 
and  the  exultant  joys  of  the  millions  of  Turkey,  as 


64  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

they  have  just  found  their  long-lost  liberty,  and  have 
come  to  the  joys  of  social,  poHtical  and  religious 
freedom.  In  that  land,  also,  the  people  are  coming 
to  their  own,  through  the  instrumentality  of  this 
newly  discovered  life  and  ambition. 

India,  likewise,  though  the  most  conservative  of 
all  countries,  is  now  throbbing  with  the  spirit  of  un- 
rest. No  people  on  earth  have  so  deified  custom 
and  worshipped  the  past  as  have  the  people  of 
India.  It  has  always  been  regarded  a  crime  in  that 
land  to  ignore  the  precepts  of  the  fathers  and  to 
make  light  of  the  ancient  institutions  of  the  land. 
To-day  India  is  seeking,  for  herself,  a  new  place  in 
the  world  programme.  Politically  she  is  demanding 
for  herself  the  right  of  self-government  and  self-di- 
rection. Under  the  influence  of  a  century  and  a 
half  of  British  guidance  and  control  she  has  been 
trained  to  some  of  the  highest  things  of  life,  and  the 
noblest  thoughts  and  possessions  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion. A  modern  system  of  Western  education  has 
brought  to  her  new  conceptions  of  human  rights, 
privileges  and  responsibilities,  and  has  given  her  a 
new  vision  of  Western  ideals  of  life.  She  has  en- 
tered, for  the  first  time,  into  the  era  of  self-govern- 
ment and  of  the  enjoyment  of  representative  institu- 
tions. In  her  eight  hundred  municipalities,  and  in 
her  nine  provincial  legislative  bodies,  she  enjoys, 
to  a  large  degree,  legislative  power  and  self-direc- 
tion. As  the  consequence  of  all  this,  there  has  come 
to  her  a  passionate  desire  for  self-government  on 
colonial  lines  within  the  British  Empire. 


The  New  Conditions  65 

India,  also,  recently  gazed  upon  that  wonderful 
triumph  of  the  Japanese  over  the  Russians,  and  had 
a  vision,  for  the  first  time,  of  the  possibilities  of  in- 
dependence, which  invited  her  to  new  activities  and 
worthy  achievements.  As  a  result  of  all  this,  the 
classes  of  India  are  now  exercised  as  never  before 
with  a  purpose  to  take  their  place  among  the  na- 
tions of  the  world,  and  especially  to  have  the  su- 
preme control  in  shaping  their  own  destiny,  and  in 
furthering  the  highest  interests  of  the  country. 

Thus,  wherever  we  go  among  these  non-Christian 
countries,  we  are  everywhere  confronted  with  a  new 
awakening  of  the  people.  Hardly  anywhere  do  we 
find  a  people  robed  in  the  indifference  of  half  a  cen- 
tury ago.  The  dawn  of  a  new  day  has  come  to 
them ;  and  some  of  them  are  trying,  in  a  thousand 
ways,  to  satisfy  the  new-felt  craving  of  their  souls 
for  a  change  and  an  advance. 

In  most  of  these  countries,  great  reliance  is  based 
upon  education.  In  Japan  and  in  China,  in  India 
and  in  Turkey,  and  in  other  countries  also,  the  cry 
has  begun  to  ascend  from  all  classes  for  more  edu- 
cation ;  and  the  educational  systems  of  the  West  are 
being  rapidly  transplanted  into  Eastern  soil.  Within 
a  few  short  years  Japan  has  not  only  copied  from 
the  West,  but,  in  her  usually  eclectic  fashion,  she 
has  selected  the  best  elements  from  many  of  the 
Western  systems,  and  has  perfected  and  is  enjoying 
one  of  the  best  educational  systems  in  the  world. 

China,  also,  is  developing  a  scheme  of  education 
strictly  on  Western  lines  and  imbued  with  the  West- 


■^^ 


66  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

ern  spirit ;  and,  already,  millions  of  her  youth  are 
entering  into  her  new  schools,  which  are  built  upon 
the  ruins  of  her  past  educational  system,  and  are  be- 
ing trained  on  lines  of  thought  and  of  sentiment 
which  are  more  or  less  antagonistic  to  her  past. 

Korea,  likewise,  is  fleeing  for  refuge  to  modern 
education,  hoping  thereby  to  qualify  herself  for  a 
new  future  of  independence  and  of  self-assertion. 

Strange  things  are  taking  place  in  India  through 
the  British  educational  system  and  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  ideas  which  are  imparted  thereby.  Intel- 
lectual, social,  political  and  religious  fermentation 
is  leavening  all  their  life  and  changing  all  their 
ideals. 

Turkey,,  also,  is  not  to  be  left  behind  in  this  mat- 
ter. She  is  devising  wonderful  schemes  of  educa- 
tional advance ;  and  the  greatest  revolution  in  all 
her  history  is  soon  to  come  to  her  through  her 
newly-established  schools  modelled  on  the  most  ap- 
proved Western  lines. 

The  difficulty  with  these  countries  is  that  they  are 
making  a  fetish  of  education.  They  believe  that  it 
is  the  panacea  for  all  their  ills.  The  education 
which  they  are  beginning  to  impart  is  largely  of  a 
godless  kind,  and  ignores  the  deepest  principles  of 
ethical  life  and  moral  efficiency.  India  has,  for 
years,  through  government  and  native  institutions, 
developed  almost  exclusively  this  type  of  education. 
Many  of  the  best  friends  of  India,  including  a  host 
of  leading  Indians,  think  that  India  is  now,  in  its 
spirit  of  sedition,   disloyalty  and  anarchy,  reaping 


The  New  Conditions  67 

the  legitimate  results  of  her  educational  system. 
The  friendly  attitude  of  the  East  towards  the  Western 
educational  spirit  and  methods  must  be  joined  to 
thorough  sympathy  with,  and  dependence  upon,  re- 
ligious training  and  moral  culture,  as  an  essential 
part  of  that  which  is  to  exalt  and  save  a  people. 

Out  of  this  new  awakening  of  the  East  there  has 
emerged  a  new  racial  consciousness,  which  has  in- 
tensified and  is  increasingly  embittering  the  antago- 
nism of  East  and  West.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
marked  results  of  the  awakening  of  the  East.  And 
our  Western  racial  arrogance  has  largely  been  the 
fuel  by  which  this  modern  racial  passion  and  conflict 
have  been  kindled  and  kept  burning.  In  America, 
our  contact  and  conflict  with  the  negroes  has  led  us 
into  racial  bitterness  and  conceit.  We  have  been 
prone  to  assume  that  humanity  is  divided  into  two 
great  racial  sections — the  Whites  and  those  who  are 
not  white.  And  we  have  stoutly  believed  in  the  in- 
comparable superiority  of  the  Whites  over  all  other 
people.  In  the  strength  of  this  arrogance  we  have 
contemptuously  treated  all  others,  and  have  placed 
them  equally  and  alike  in  the  same  category  of  the 
unworthy,  the  ineligible  and  the  undesirable.  We 
have  lost  our  racial  perspective  and  have  not  dis- 
criminated between  nations  and  races  that  are  totally 
distinct.  We  have  dealt  with  the  black  and  the 
brown  and  the  yellow  races,  not  only  as  if  they  were 
all  one,  but  also  with  the  contempt  born  of  igno- 
rance of  their  divers  and  worthy  qualities. 

In  their  new-found  dignity  and  intense  racial  as- 


68  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

sertion,  the  people  of  Asia  bitterly  resent  this  Western 
conceit  and  blind  classification. 

The  Japanese,  the  Brahmans  of  India,  the  Turks 
and  the  Chinese,  each  race  for  itself,  presents  to  us 
its  own  peculiar  claims,  and  demands  of  us  a  treat- 
ment consonant  with  its  own  individual  excellence 
and  racial  worth.  The  day  has  passed  when  we,  in 
this  land,  should,  or  can,  discriminate  against  the 
yellow  man  of  the  Far  East,  and  indeed  against  all 
men  who  are  not  white,  simply  on  the  ground  of 
colour.  The  **  sand-lot  politicians  "  of  America  have 
too  long  held  our  country  in  the  bondage  of  a  gross 
racial  ignorance,  blind  assumption  of  superiority  and 
indiscriminfeLte  contempt  of  the  people  of  the  East. 

Japan  will  no  longer  suffer  herself  to  be  despised 
or  unjustly  and  unequally  treated,  simply  because  of 
her  racial  connection.  During  the  last  few  years  she 
has  proved,  what  the  Chinese  and  other  races  also 
will  soon  prove,  the  solid  merits,  and  some  of  the 
superior  and  excellent  qualities,  of  her  racial  type ; 
and  she  demands  recognition  of  them,  and  claims 
from  America  and  from  all  the  Western  world  con- 
sideration for  all  her  people,  and  respect  and  equal 
treatment  for  herself  as  a  nation.  The  Russo- 
Japanese  war  gave  point  and  emphasis,  beyond  any- 
thing else  in  modern  history,  to  the  race  conflict  be- 
tween the  East  and  West — the  Yellow  and  the 
White.  And  as  the  yellow  man  shows  his  mettle  and 
his  superiority  to  the  white  man  upon  the  battle- 
field, where  the  latter  has  for  centuries  had  do- 
minion, then  will  the  West,  as  indeed  she  must,  con- 


The  New  Conditions  69 

cede  other  points  of  excellence  and  of  value  to 
Eastern  people.  Nothing,  in  all  history,  has  more 
thoroughly  punctured  our  Western  conceit  and  has 
more  thoroughly  rehabilitated  the  self-consciousness 
and  assertion  of  the  East  than  that  same  war. 
What  Japan  has  demanded  and  enforced,  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet ;  what  she  has  won  through  the 
price  of  the  blood  of  legions  of  her  noble  heroic 
dead,  that  also  is  all  the  East  demanding  from  us 
to-day.  China  is  preparing  for  the  great  conflict  of 
the  near  future — the  conflict  which  can  by  no  pos- 
sibility be  evaded  and  which  is  perhaps  more  immi- 
nent than  we  are  apt  to  think,  and  which  will  not 
end  until  her  numberless  hosts  shall  have  shown  to 
the  West  that  the  Yellow  man  must  be  respected  and 
treated  with  consideration  and  equality  by  the  White 
man. 

Perhaps  the  conflict  is  nowhere  more  marked  and 
acute  than  in  India  at  the  present  time.  As  we 
study  carefully  the  Indian  situation  we  see  that  it  is 
peculiar  in  this  particular.  In  that  land,  to-day, 
there  stand  face  to  face,  not  two  diverse  and  foreign 
races,  but  two  brother  Aryans — the  Aryan  White  of 
the  West  and  the  Aryan  Brown  of  the  East.  More 
than  four  millenniums  ago  these  two  brothers,  of  the 
same  race,  parted  company;  one  turned  his  face 
westward,  and  the  other  migrated  southward.  By 
centuries  of  life  and  training  and  of  northern  en- 
vironment the  Western  brother  became  the  vig- 
orous, assertive,  pushing,  Anglo-Saxon  of  the 
West.     In  a  similar  manner,  the  other  brother — the 


yo  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Brahman  of  the  East— developed  his  own  type  of 
character,  almost  antipodal  to  that  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon.  To-day,  in  God's  strange  providence,  these 
two  have  come  together  once  more ;  and  through 
much  friction  and  bitterness  of  spirit  they  are,  I  be- 
lieve, working  out  the  great  problem  of  their  com- 
mon destiny  and  are  furnishing  to  the  world  a  racial 
conflict  which  is  to  result  in  the  creation  of  a  new 
and  a  better  type  of  manhood  and  of  racial  dignity 
and  power  than  any  that  the  world  has  ever  known 
in  the  past. 

The  White  Aryan  has  triumphed  in  arms  over  his 
milder  brown  brother  of  the  Eastern  tropics.  He  has 
the  arrogance  of  his  race  joined  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  his- military  power  and  to  a  sense  of  his  gen- 
eral superiority  over  the  subject  race.  He  has  rid- 
den roughshod  over  the  Brahman's  sensibihties ;  he 
has  never  regarded  his  view-point  in  the  study  of 
any  situation ;  he  has  entirely  forgotten,  even  if  he 
ever  knew,  the  Hindu  temperament,  and  has  always 
interpreted  the  slight  shade  of  colour  which  dis- 
tinguishes his  brother  of  the  East  as  the  sign  of  his 
inferiority  and  a  badge  of  his  bondage.  Doubtless, 
he  intends  to  do  the  best  he  can,  and  to  bring  the 
best  that  he  possesses,  to  this  man  of  the  East.  But 
most  of  his  work  is  vitiated  by  this  prepossession 
and  thought  of  his  own  superiority. 

Yet  that  Brahman  is  not  without  self-appreciation  ; 
indeed  he  is  possessed  of  a  colossal  self-conceit — a 
conceit  which  is  by  no  means  inferior  to  that  of  the 
Aryan  White,  and  is  perhaps  more  warranted  than 


The  New  Conditions  71 

his.  For,  during  the  last  thirty  centuries  in  the  his- 
tory of  India,  that  Aryan  Brown  has  enjoyed  undis- 
puted supremacy  in  all  that  makes  for  the  existence 
and  prosperity  of  any  people.  He  has  revealed  him- 
self to  be  a  man  wonderful  in  his  resources  and 
prowess.  Intellectually  he  has  dominated  the  des- 
tiny of  India.  He  has  largely  shaped  the  thought  and 
created  and  elaborated  the  remarkable  philosophies 
of  that  land.  India  has  been  preeminently  the  land 
of  religious  thought  and  speculation,  of  profound 
systems  of  philosophy  and  of  ontology  ;  and  this  has 
largely  been  the  product  of  the  mind  and  the  stirring 
result  of  the  thought  of  the  Brahman. 

Socially,  his  position  is  supreme  among  the  three 
hundred  millions  of  that  land.  He  has  dominated 
society  in  India  from  time  immemorial.  It  is  he  who 
erected  that  colossal  caste  system  which,  for  twenty- 
five  centuries,  has  shaped  the  life  and  controlled  the 
destiny  of  the  teeming  millions  of  that  land.  In 
that  great  social  and  religious  pyramid  he  has 
placed  himself  at  the  apex,  and  has  so  stereotyped 
and  stratified  society  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  a 
member  of  one  stratum  to  rise,  by  any  possibility, 
into  another.  At  the  base  of  Hhat  pyramid  he  has 
placed  the  fifty  million  outcastes  who  are  helpless, 
ambitionless  and  hopelessly  crushed  by  the  weight  of 
that  mighty  social  system. 

Religiously,  the  Brahman  is  the  cynosure  of  all 
eyes.  The  son  of  Brahma,  the  Creator,  he  has  for 
many  centuries  received  the  worship  which  was  orig- 
inally given  to  his  father,  and  was  later  transferred 


72  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

to  him.  The  millions  of  Hinduism  believe  him  to 
be  divine ;  and  many  still  prostrate  themselves  be- 
fore him  and  worship  him.  The  proximity  of  an 
outcaste  man,  yea,  even  his  shadow,  pollutes  this 
man  of  God.  He  regards  himself  as  divine  and  is 
possessed  of  all  the  intolerance  and  arrogance  in- 
separable from  such  a  conceit.  Now,  the  Brahman 
of  India  is  intellectually  superior  to  his  brother  of 
the  West.  He  can  surpass  him  any  day  in  intellec- 
tual pursuits.  Socially,  he  regards  himself-  as  unap- 
proached  by  the  white  man.  To  him  contact  with 
an  Englishman  is  religiously  as  defiling  as  contact 
with  the  Pariah.  Even  if  the  meanest  Brahman  in 
India  were  to  come  into  personal  contact  with  the 
King  of  England,  the  Emperor  of  India,  it  would 
necessitate,  afterwards,  the  performance  of  many  re- 
ligious ablutions  in  order  to  cleanse  himself  from  the 
polluting  touch  of  that  white  man  1 

This,  then,  is  the  racial  tension  which  now  exists 
between  the  man  of  the  East  and  the  man  of  the 
West ;  and  it  is  the  business  of  the  West  to  study 
well  the  situation  and  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  our 
Master,  of  our  religion,  and  of  the  highest  and  best 
sentiments  of  our  civilization,  so  as  to  help  to  solve 
the  problem  in  a  way  that  will  be  Christian  and  per- 
manent. 

In  this  connection  one  should  not  forget  the  antip- 
odal character  of  the  East  and  the  West.  And  in 
India  this  is  intensified  by  the  fact  that  we  not  only 
have  East  and  West  confronting  each  other,  we  have 
also  the  inhabitants  of  the  North  and  the  denizens  of 


The  New  Conditions  73 

the  tropical  South,  face  to  face.  It  is  eminently  true, 
as  Kipling  has  said,  that 

"The  East  is  East  and  the  West  is  West 

And  never  the  twain  shall  meet, 

Till  earth  and  sky  stand  presently 

At  God's  great  judgment  seat." 

This  antipodal — or,  more  properly,  complementary 
— relationship  of  these  two  hemispheres  must  never 
be  forgotten  in  our  approach  to  those  people  of  the 
Orient.  Our  first  duty  in  the  East  is  that  of  study- 
ing them  that  we  may  understand  them  and  enter 
into  sympathy,  so  far  as  may  be,  with  their  tempera- 
ment and  view-point.  King  George  V,  after  his  re- 
cent visit,  as  Prince  of  Wales,  to  India,  declared  his 
conviction  that  what  India  especially  needed  to-day 
was  more  sympathy  from  the  British  people.  This 
is  doubtless  true.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  take  to 
the  East  the  best  that  we  have  in  life  and  in  thought, 
in  faith  and  in  morals ;  but  we  must  take  it  in  a  way 
which  will  appeal  strongly  to  them,  and  which  will 
attract  them  and  lead  them  to  accept  our  message 
and  our  blessing.  It  is  too  true  that  the  man  of  the 
West  has  regarded  his  mission  m  the  East  as  a  mis- 
sion to  "  hustle  the  East."  We  need  to  do  more 
than  this,  we  need  preeminently  to  "hustle"  our- 
selves away  from  this  arrogance  and  into  humble, 
loving  sympathy  with  the  people — the  only  way  by 
which  they  can  be  understood,  appreciated,  and 
won  over  to  any  blessing  and  spiritual  power  that 
we  may  possess. 


74  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

IV 

It  is  of  considerable  importance  that,  under  the 
kaleidoscopic  changes  which  are  now  going  on 
among  the  non-Christian  people  of  the  world,  and 
under  the  many  revelations  of  their  strength  and 
wisdom,  we  should  remember  that  there  is  one  par- 
ticular of  fundamental  importance  in  which  these 
peoples  are  one  among  themselves  as  they  are  one 
with  us.  They  are  in  the  same  condition  of  aliena- 
tion from  God,  in  deep  need  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
and  of  salvation  from  sin.  Among  all  the  faiths  of 
the  non-Christian  world  there  is  not  one  that  gives 
an  adequate  conception  of  the  true  God.  With  all 
the  profound  philosophies  of  India,  there  is  found  in 
that  land  a  deadening  pantheism,  a  gross  polythe- 
ism, and  a  debasing  and  all-embracing  idolatry. 

Japan  is  pathetically  building  up  for  herself  to-day 
a  godless  system  of  ethics,  because  she  has  no  true 
and  certain  grip  upon  any  theory  of  divine  existence, 
guidance  and  control.  There  is  no  people  in  all  the 
non-Christian  world  which  has  fathomed  the  depth 
of  the  content  of  the  simple  word  "  sin."  They  know 
not  its  real  nature.  They  either  ignore  it  entirely, 
or  fail  to  emphasize  its  ethical  content ;  and  they 
know  of  no  way  of  achieving  victory  over  sin  in  life, 
and  of  reaching  a  condition  of  moral  perfection. 

However  much  one  nation  after  another  may 
emerge  out  of  the  gross  darkness  of  ignorance,  and 
many  of  the  common  superstitions  of  life,  the  deeper 
one  studies  their  moral  and  spiritual  condition, 
the  more  impressed  does  he  become  that  there  is  no 


The  New  Conditions  75 

remedy  outside  of  Christ  and  His  Gospel  which  can 
bring  to  them  true  elevation  and  ennoblement  of  life, 
individual  and  national.  Their  modern  awakening 
and  their  putting  on  of  respectability  in  many  of  the 
outer  aspects  of  life  and  civilization  does  not  change, 
in  the  least,  their  pathetic  helplessness  in  spiritual 
matters.  The  missionary  has  not  yet  found,  among 
the  Christless  peoples  of  the  world,  any  whose  con- 
dition is  not  pitiable,  and  does  not  clearly  reveal  the 
need  of  the  Gospel  of  reconciliation  which  God  has 
brought  to  the  world  in  Christ  Jesus. 

I  have  seen  the  people  of  many  lands  and  have 
foun.d  most  encouraging  progress  in  many  ways 
among  non-Christian  people ;  but  I  have  not  yet 
found  an  instance  where  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  rendered  any  the  less  necessary  because  of  their 
awakening  and  progress.  The  gospel  message  is 
directly  or  indirectly  the  source  of  every  new  impulse 
of  life  and  progress  in  the  East  to-day.  But  it  is  also 
true  and  more  significantly  and  vitally  true,  that  no 
people  have  found  life  and  permanent  blessing  by 
accepting  the  by-products  of  our  faith  and  rejecting 
its  supreme  message  and  soul  blessing.  There  is 
no  adequacy  in  any  other  system  of  life  or  of  thought 
to  produce  that  which  man  everywhere  supremely 
needs — individual,  social  and  national  regeneration, 
and  perfection  of  moral  life  and  spiritual  power. 

It  is  well,  therefore,  that  we  listen  to  those  splen- 
didly true  and  ringing  words  of  Sir  Monier  Williams, 
that  man  of  great  wisdom  and  of  wide  knowledge 
of  the  East : 


76  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

**  Go  forth,  then,  ye  missionaries,  in  your  Master's 
name  ;  go  forth  into  all  the  world,  and,  after  study- 
ing all  its  false  religions  and  philosophies,  go  forth 
and  fearlessly  proclaim  to  suffering  humanity  the 
plain,  the  unchangeable,  the  eternal  facts  of  the 
Gospel^ — nay,  I  might  almost  say,  the  stubborn,  the 
unyielding,  the  inexorable  facts  of  the  Gospel.  Dare 
to  be  downright  with  all  the  uncompromising  cour- 
age of  your  own  Bible,  while  with  it  your  watch- 
words are  love,  joy,  peace,  reconciliation.  Be  fair, 
be  charitable,  be  Christlike,  but  let  there  be  no  mis- 
take. Let  it  be  made  absolutely  clear  that  Chris- 
tianity cannot,  must  not,  be  watered  down  to  suit  the 
palate  of  either  Hindu,  Parsee,  Confucianist,  or  Mo- 
hammedan) and  that  whosoever  wishes  to  pass  from 
the  false  religion  to  the  true  can  never  hope  to  do  so 
by  the  rickety  planks  of  compromise,  or  by  the  help 
of  faltering  hands  held  out  by  half-hearted  Christians. 
He  must  leap  the  gulf  in  faith,  and  the  living  Christ 
will  spread  His  everlasting  arms  beneath,  and  land 
him  safely  on  the  Eternal  Rocks. 

"  I  have  said  enough  to  put  you  on  your  guard 
when  you  hear  people  speak  too  highly  of  the  sacred 
books  of  the  East,  other  than  our  own  Bible.  Let  us 
not  shut  our  eyes  to  what  is  excellent  and  true  and 
of  good  report  in  these  books ;  but  let  us  teach 
Hindus,  Zoroastrians,  Confucianists,  Buddhists,  and 
Mohammedans  that  there  is  only  one  sacred  Book 
that  can  be  their  mainstay,  their  support,  in  that 
awful  hour  when  they  pass  alone  into  the  unseen 
world.     There  is  only  one  Book  to  be  clasped  to  the 


The  New  Conditions  77 

heart — only  one  Gospel  that  can  give  peace  to  the 
fainting  soul  then.  It  is  the  sacred  Volume  which 
contains  that  faithful  saying  worthy  to  be  accepted 
of  all  men,  women  and  children,  in  the  East  and  in 
the  West,  in  the  North  and  in  the  South,  *  that 
Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.'  " 


Ill 

The  New  Problems  Which  it  Presents 

NEW  conditions  always  create  new  problems. 
In  the  home  lands  the  missionary  enter- 
prise furnishes  ever-changing  questions 
which  the  Church  is  prone  to  ignore,'  or  too  slow  to 
study  and  solve.  One  of  the  most  discouraging 
characteristics  of  the  Church  is  its  unwillingness  to 
seriously  consider  new  problems  as  they  arise  and 
to  solve  them  in  a  way  which  will  add  to  its  effi- 
ciency and  make  for  progress  and  power. 

On  the  mission  field,  also,  every  year  presents  fresh 
problems  and  furnishes  new  emphases  to  old  prob- 
lems in  a  way  which  demands  alertness  and  discern- 
ment upon  the  part  of  missionary  leaders. 

I 

We  have  Thought  Problems  which  are,  perhaps, 
the  most  urgent  and  perplexing  of  all.  During  the 
last  half  century  the  deepest  thought  of  the  world, 
especially  of  the  oriental  world,  has  been  profoundly 
disturbed,  if  not  revolutionized.  And  the  attitude 
of  the  Western  mind  towards  Eastern  philosophies 
and  religious  speculation  has  undergone  even  a 
more  marked  overturning. 

Thus,  our  question  assumes  a  twofold  form. 

78 


The  New  Problems  79 

(a)  In  the  first  place  what  shall  be  our  attitude 
towards  non-Christian  religious  thought  ? 

A  few  brief  years  ago  this  hardly-  presented  a  sub- 
ject for  discussion.  It  was  almost  universally  main- 
tained that  all  non-Christian  thought  was  not  only  a 
contemptible  thing,  but  also  a  depraved  and  un- 
godly thing  which  should  be  utterly  avoided  and 
eradicated. 

To-day,  also,  it  is  known  that  much  of  this  thought 
is  erratic,  childish  and  must  be  discarded.  But  there 
is  also  a  growing  sentiment  that  not  a  little  of  it  is 
to  be  conserved  and  utilized  in  the  coming  religious 
adjustment.  It  is  to  be  chastened  and  used  as  fit 
material  in  the  permanent  temple  of  Christian 
thought.  In  other  words,  we  have  learned  to  dis- 
criminate between  that  which  is  false  and  unworthy 
and  that  which  is  true  and  eternal  in  ethnic  and 
other  non-Christian  faiths. 

Even  the  lowest  types  of  heathen  religious 
thought,  though  they  may  not  appeal  to  our  intel- 
ligence, demand  our  sympathetic  interpretation. 
They  awaken  some  appreciation  and  will  demand 
that  men  reckon  with  them  in  the  constructive  work 
of  Christian  thought  among  those  peoples.  The 
testimony  of  Dr.  Johan  Warneck  is  to  the  point 
here, — ''The  more  thoroughly  we  study  animistic 
heathenism  the  more  astonished  we  become  at  the 
wonderful  system  which  we  had  never  dreamed  of 
finding  among  uncivilized  peoples,  among  cannibals 
and  head-hunters.  We  discover  that  even  vilified 
heathenism  shows  a  work  of  thought.     Superstition 


8o  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

has  a  system.  Its  ungainly  features  are  not  marked 
by  a  planless  caprice,  but  all  converge  to  one  centre, 
the  view  of  the  soul  as  the  highest  good.  The 
strange  world  of  ideas  confronts  us  as  a  compact 
philosophy  of  nature.  We  are  fairly  amazed  at  the 
uncivilized  man's  inherent  love  of  knowledge,  the 
need  he  feels  for  a  rational  approach  to  the  enigmas 
and  forces  of  the  world,  and  for  coming  to  an  under- 
standing with  the  supernatural.  Animistic  iieathen- 
ism  must  be  taken  as  seriously  as  the  higher  religions 
of  Greece  and  India.  It  has  not  found  the  truth, 
has  even  wandered  far  from  it,  but  what  a  felt  need 
for  knowledge  !  "  ^ 

How  much  more  is  this  true  when  we  rise  to  a 
consideration  of  the  highest  ethnic  and  other  non- 
Christian  faiths  of  Asia.  No  people  can  have  woven 
for  millenniums  out  of  the  deepest  and  richest  fabric 
of  their  religious  thought  and  sentiments  a  philos- 
ophy or  a  system  of  ontology  which  has  not  some- 
thing in  it  which  partakes  of  their  deepest  intellec- 
tual need  and  spiritual  yearning,  and  which  should 
not  be  conserved  and  built  into  their  Christian  phi- 
losophy to  help  them  in  their  interpretation  of  the 
Christ  life  and  thought. 

We  must  not  only  agree  with  the  two  greatest  of 
Christian  apostles,  that  God  did  not  leave  these  peo- 
ple without  witness  of  Himself  in  their  most  earnest 
intellectual  searchings  after  Him ;  we  must  also  believe 
that  some  of  these  ancient  teachings  of  these  philos- 
ophies are  a  reflection  of  their  own  mind  and  the 

J  "The  Living  Christ  and  Dying  Heathenism,"  p.  8i. 


The  New  Problems  81 

offspring  of  their  deepest  being  and  must  be  brought 
into  subjection  to  the  Christ  thought  as  the  people 
themselves  are  brought  into  the  Christ  life. 

So  the  thought  problem  is  more  complex  at  pres- 
ent than  in  the  past  when  all  non-Christian  thought 
was  discarded  and  denounced. 

As  we  approach  Mohammedanism,  for  instance, 
we  must  not  forget  that  a  no  inconsiderable  portion 
of  the  groundwork  of  that  faith  is  kindred  to,  if  not 
the  same  as,  our  own.  It  is  just  as  important  that 
the  missionary,  who  labours  among  its  followers, 
recognize  and  appreciate  the  harmonies  as  the  dis- 
sonances of  the  two  religions.  They  worship  the 
same  God  as  ourselves,  only  with  a  more  exclusive 
emphasis  upon  the  divine  Unity.  They  accept  and 
reverence  our  Scriptures  and  are  even  more  bitterly 
opposed  than  we  to  all  forms  of  polytheism,  panthe- 
ism, idolatry  and  heathenish  superstition.  This  is 
certainly  a  broad,  a  common  and  an  eternal  plat- 
form upon  which  we  may  approach  them. 

If  again  we  consider  Buddhism,  it  is  well  to  re- 
member that  the  great  Gautama  established  his 
faith  five  centuries  before  Christ  under  very  similar 
conditions  and  circumstances  to' those  in  which  our 
Lord  established  His  religion.  The  Buddha  was  a 
mighty  protestant  against  the  vain  formalism,  the 
ceremonial  excesses,  the  racial  narrowness,  the  de- 
basing polytheism  and  the  myriad  bloody  sacrifices 
and  priestly  tyranny  of  the  Brahmanism  of  his  day, 
as  our  Lord  antagonized  at  all  points  practically  the 
same  evils  of  the  Rabbinical  Phariseeism  of  His  day. 


82  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Fresent-day  Buddhism  in  the  Far  East  is  a  degener- 
ate thing.  But  its  primitive  ethical  grandeur,  the 
stern  nobility  of  its  founder,  and  his  persistent  em- 
phasis upon  the  brotherhood  of  all  men  and  the  uni- 
versal benevolence  of  his  heart  and  the  tolerance  of 
his  creed — all  these  are  certainly  worthy  of  com- 
mendation and  reveal  to  us  teachings  of  fundamental 
importance  and  eternal  verity. 

i     Confucianism  in  China,  also,  is  possessed  of  quali- 
ties that  are  commendable.     It  is  not  necessary  that 
A/  we  raise  the  question  whether  Confucianism  is,  or  is 

not,  a  religion.  The  very  fact  that  the  question  is 
raised  by  men  of  thought  in  all  lands  is  a  significant 
confession  of  its  defect  and  inadequacy  as  arehgion. 
However,  all  admit  its  ethical  value  and  bear  testi- 
mony to  its  wholesome  influence,  in  many  respects, 
upon  the  Chinese  people. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  Brahmanism  of  India. 

Referring,  generally,  to  the  indigenous  thought  of 
all  these  lands  of  the  East,  I  claim  that  they  should 
be  dealt  with  intelligently.  It  is  a  lamentable  fact 
that  few  missionaries  and  fewer  oriental  Christians 
are  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  thought  of  their  an- 
cestral faiths.  There  lingers  still  the  old  conviction 
that  indigenous  thought  and  life  in  the  East  are  un- 
worthy of  consideration  and  are  of  the  devil.  No 
people  on  earth  have  engaged  more  and  for  a  longer 
time  in  religious  speculation,  or  have  thought  out 
more  patiently  and  devoutly  the  relations  between 
God  and  man,  than  have  the  people  of  India,  for  in- 
stance ;  and  no  one  is  worthy  to  be  a  teacher  of  those 


The  New  Problems  83 

people  in  divine  things  who  is  not  tolerably  familiar 
with  the  thoughts  of  God  as  they  were  revealed,  in 
past  ages,  to  the  sages  of  that  land. ' 

They  should  also  be  dealt  with  in  a  thoroughly 
sympathetic  way.  Men  must  not  trifle  with  the 
teaching  of  many  centuries,  which  is  not  only  hoary 
with  age,  but  is  also  most  pathetically  sincere  and 
patient.  It  is  necessary  to  know  that  India  has  pro- 
duced some  of  the  highest  religious  speculations, 
profoundest  philosophies  and  most  remarkable  sys- 
tems of  ontology  that  the  world  has  ever  known. 
These  have  been  the  thought  pabulum  and  the  spir- 
itual nourishment  of  this  great  people  for  millen- 
niums. One  should  not  deal  harshly  or  unsympa- 
thetically  with  these  spiritual  aspirations  and  yearn- 
ings of  that  people.  He  must  be  able  to  see  what  it 
is  in  all  Eastern  faiths  that  has  rendered  them,  in  a 
limited  sense,  soothing,  if  not  satisfying,  to  the  heart, 
and  expressive  of  the  deepest  mind,  of  those  races  for 
so  many  centuries. 

Criticism  of  it  must  also  be  dominantly  construct- 
ive in  its  character.  Even  to-day,  many  mission- 
aries believe  that  they  have  been  sent  to  the  East  to 
tear  down  and  trample  under  foot  every  element  of 
these  systems  of  thought  and  spiritual  aspirations 
which,  they  say,  are  of  the  evil  one.  Rather  is  it 
necessary  to  regard  them  as  containing  many  vital 
and  eternal  truths  which  must  be  conserved — stones 
out  of  the  old  temples  of  Eastern  religions  to  be  re- 
cut  and  placed  in  the  abiding  temple  of  our  Chrisr 
tian  faith.     Respect  and  consideration  for  life  in  all 


84  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

its  forms,  and  reverence  for  ancestors,  as  overem- 
phasized by  Buddhism  and  Confucianism,  must  be 
disengaged  from  the  errors  with  which  they  are  in- 
volved there,  chastened  and  made  an  emphatic  part 
of  Christianity  in  the  East.  Some  of  the  most  fun- 
damental teachings  of  ancient  and  modern  India  are 
among  the  eternal  verities  of  rehgion  to  be  valued 
and  preserved  for  their  own  sake  and  also  for  the 
reason  that  they  have  been  cherished  in  that  land 
from  time  immemorial  and  have  revealed  the  mould 
of  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  East  during  all  this 
time. 

Moreover,  many  of  these  truths  only  require  to  be 
exalted  and  taken  out  of  their  base  setting  and  chas- 
tened and  reexpressed  in  modern  Christian  terms 
in  order  to  be  properly  related  to  Christian  truth. 
Pantheism  itself,  which  has  done  more  evil  in  India 
than  any  other  teaching  of  the  land,  is  India's 
profoundest  and  most  powerful  doctrine.  It  has 
wrought  more  for  India  than  all  other  teachings 
combined,  in  the  type  of  character  which  it  has  pro- 
duced and  in  the  influence  of  the  faith  of  which  it  is 
the  foundation  stone.  Yet  pantheism  is  only  a  per- 
verted truth.  It  is  an  overemphasis  upon  the  all- 
important  doctrine  of  divine  immanence.  These 
people  have  drawn  God  so  near  to  them  that  they 
are  unable  to  see  Him  and  know  Him.  It  reveals 
marvellously  the  type  of  oriental  mind  which  has 
well  been  called  *'the  mind  of  a  God-intoxicated 
people."  There  are  elements  in  this  doctrine  which 
must  be  conserved  and  through  which  our  faith  can 


The  New  Problems  85 

be  made  the  more  vital  and  helpful  to  the  Orient. 
In  like  manner,  the  doctrine  of  Karma^  which  is  so 
all-pervasive  and  convincing  in  the  thought  and  life 
of  Hindus  and  Buddhists  alike,  is  but  a  twisted  and 
distorted  expression  of  the  fundamental  Christian 
truth  of  the  universality  and  remorselessness  of  the 
moral  law  in  God's  universe.  It  needs  to  be  re- 
formed and  properly  related  to  the  basal  Christian 
doctrine  of  grace  in  order  to  acquire  permanent 
value  in  our  religion. 

Some  of  these  thoughts,  which  are  indigenous  in 
the  East,  are  definitely  preparatory  to  the  higher 
Christian  truth.  This  is  essentially  true  of  the 
Vaishnavite  doctrine  of  faith  (bhakti),  which  indeed 
may  have  been  originally  adopted  from  Christianity 
in  the  third  century  of  our  era,  and  which  is  the 
nearest  approach  among  the  teachings  of  that  faith 
to  that  of  our  own  divine  religion.  When  that  doc- 
trine, which  is  now  so  popular  in  India,  shall  have 
been  cleansed  from  its  impurities,  released  from  its 
association  with  unworthy  gods,  and  brought  into 
intimate  relationship  with  our  Christ,  it  will  accom- 
plish more  perhaps  than  any  other  doctrine  that  has 
ever ,  been  taught  there,  in  making  our  faith  indig- 
enous in  the  East. 

{b)  Then  there  arises  the  complementary  and 
equally  important  inquiry  as  to  how  much  of  West- 
ern Christianity  shall  be  taken  to  non-Christian 
peoples.  Certainly  it  is  necessary  to  take  every 
esseiitial  truth  and  grace  which  it  possesses.  There 
is  no  vital  teaching  of  our  faith  which  we  can  afiord 


86  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

to  dispense  with.  The  East  needs  no  emasculated 
Christianity.  Every  element  of  its  Ufe  and  power, 
and  its  every  web  of  thought  should  adorn  and  com- 
mend it  to  those  people. 

But  it  is  important  to  remember,  in  this  connec- 
tion, that  our  Western  type  of  Christianity  is  a  com- 
pound of  two  very  different  elements — the  Christ 
life  and  His  saving  message,  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  many  centuries  of  our  interpretation  and  elabo- 
ration of  the  same  on  the  other. 

The  Christianity  which  is  to  be  related  to  Eastern 
thought  and  life  is  not  the  same  as  that  interpreta- 
tion of  Christian  truth  which  the  West  has  elaborated 
through  many  centuries  in  consonance  with  its  own 
mental  bia.s  and  intellectual  prepossessions,  and  ex- 
pressing fully  the  Western  emphasis  upon  life.  The 
Western,  especially  the  Anglo-Saxon,  type  of  mind 
is  more  nearly  antipodal  than  any  other  to  that  of 
the  East ;  and  the  hemispheres  of  life  which  they 
have  cultivated  are  mutually  complementary. 

It  should  not,  therefore,  be  supposed  that  our 
duty  is  to  carry  bodily  our  Western  thought  and 
life  to  those  lands  where  it  could  not  possibly  be 
intelligible,  congenial  or  useful.  One  has  well  said 
that  "  before  India  can  be  Christianized,  Christianity 
must  be  naturalized."  The  distinguished  Indian 
Christian,  Kali  Charran  Banner jee,  significantly  em- 
phasized, in  an  address  to  missionaries,  the  supreme 
fact  that  what  India  requires  to-day  is  "  not  adjec- 
tival Christianity  but  the  substantive  thing." 
Oriental  Christians  are  coming  to  feel  this  more  and 


The  New  Problems  87 

more  ;  and  the  non-Christian,  educated  people  of 
India  and  the  Far  East  are  most  pronounced  in  this 
conviction.  It  is  Essential  Christianity  that  must  be 
related  to  Eastern  thought  and  life ;  and  there  is 
much  less  of  our  Western  Christianity,  in  religious 
speculation,  in  dogmatic  assertion  and  in  ecclesias- 
tical assumption,  which  is  of  the  very  essence  of  our 
faith  than  we  are  wont  to  think. 

In  achieving  this  we  have  a  decided  advantage 
over  those  who  have  gone  before.  The  science  of 
Comparative  Religions  helps  us  not  only  to  see  what 
is  good  in  other  faiths,  but  also  enables  us  to  realize 
the  partial,  local  and  inadequate  interpretation  which 
any  one  nation  or  people  has  given  to  our  own  faith. 
And  our  broader  sympathies  and  wider  knowledge 
of  men  prevent  us  from  a  wholesale  thrusting  of  our 
prejudices  and  dogmatic  assertions  upon  non-Chris- 
tian peoples  as  in  the  past. 

The  modern  unrest  of  the  East  is  in  no  small  de- 
gree the  dissatisfaction  of  those  lands  with  our 
Western  intellectual  and  religious  arrogance  which 
strives  to  lead  all  men  to  think  in  our  channels  and 
to  emphasize  our  Western  ideals  and  virtues. 

It  is  necessary  that  Christian  truth  be  separated, 
as  far  as  may  be,  from  its  Western  setting.  This 
will  be  a  very  difficult  thing  for  a  man  of  the  West 
to  do.  He  can  never  fully  disengage  himself  from 
his  inheritance  and  bias  of  thought  and  life ;  but  he 
must  always  aim  to  lay  aside  his  prepossessions  and 
bring  to  the  Eastern  people,  so  far  as  possible,  that 
aspect  of  our  religion  which  will  best  appeal  to  tKem 


88  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

and  which  will  most  quickly  develop  within  them 
the  noblest  traits  of  life  and  character. 

He  must  also  make  Christ  the  centre  and  the 
supreme  test  of  his  teaching.  Jesus  is  the  world 
Christ.  He  is  at  least  as  oriental  as  He  is  occidental. 
He  appeals  to  the  East  to-day  as  no  other  incarna- 
tion of  life  ever  did  in  that  continent.  He  has 
already  captivated  the  mind  and  the  imagination 
of  the  leaders  and  the  cultivated  men  of  the  Orient. 
He,  in  His  words  and  life,  is  the  Essential  Christian- 
ity, and  is  what  Asia  supremely  needs.  He  should 
be  the  centre  and  the  circumference  of  the  mission- 
ary's message.  Whatever  of  indigenous  thought 
and  life  is  wprth  conserving  in  Eastern  faiths  finds 
fulfillment  and  realization  in  Him.  Asia's  and 
Africa's  redemption  must  be  found  definitely  in 
Him.  The  ideals  of  life,  the  fulfillment  of  all  truth, 
and  the  realization  of  immortality — He  incarnates 
all  these  because  He  is  "the  Way,  the  Truth  and 
the  Life." 

Therefore,  in  the  impartation  of  Christian  truth, 
it  should  not  be  the  aim  to  emphasize  our  occidental 
mental  bias,  experience  and  elaboration  of  our  faith. 
That  type  will  never  strongly  appeal  to,  or  prevail, 
in  the  East.  Yet  we  should  not  eliminate  entirely 
our  Western  aspect  and  emphasis  of  thought  and 
life ;  for  it  will  have  a  value  as  a  corrective  of  the 
oriental  and  is  complementary  to  the  same.  The 
East  and  the  West  must  find  their  place  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  Christian  truth.  It  is  only  in  the  full 
blending  of  these  two  that  our  faith  is  to  find  its 


The  New  Problems  89 

perfect  expression.     In  a  deeper  sense  than  Tennyson 
meant, 

"  The  East  and  West  without  a  breath 
Mixed  their  dim  hght  like  life  and  death 
To  broaden  into  boundless  day." 

In  this  discussion,  as  in  that  of  the  following 
section,  it  is  well  to  recognize  the  difference,  often 
ignored,  which  separates  India  from  other  lands  of 
the  East ;  for  India  is  not  only  oriental,  it  is  also 
tropical.  And  this  has  had  perhaps  the  largest  in- 
fluence in  the  formation  of  the  distinct  Indian  type 
of  thought  and  life — a  type  which  she  has  also  im- 
pressed, far  more  than  we  realize,  upon  all  those 
lands  of  the  Far  East  which  have  borrowed  much  of 
her  faith  and  thought. 

(c)  Then,  we  must  raise  the  further  question  as  to 
how  far  advanced,  radical  Christian  thought  should 
be  imported  by  the  missionary  to  the  East.  There  is 
a  reservation  of  truth  which  the  Lord  Himself  had 
to  exercise  towards  the  Twelve,  because  He  knew 
that  they  were  not  prepared  to  receive  it.  The  mis- 
sionary, as  a  man  of  the  twentieth  century  culture, 
will  find  it  necessary  to  be  eclectic  in  his  deliverance 
of  Christian  truth  to  a  people  who  are,  in  a  sense, 
centuries  in  the  rear.  The  writer  himself  has 
appreciated  for  many  years  this  difficulty  of  his 
position  as  teacher  and  trainer  of  men  for  the  Chris- 
tian ministry  in  India.  A  subject  much  discussed 
at  the  present  time  in  America  is  that  of  the*  evi- 
dential value  of  miracles  in  the  Christian  scheme  of 


go  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

truth.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  this  element,  in 
Christian  evidences,  has,  for  us  of  the  twentieth 
century  in  the  West,  lost  preeminence,  if  not  its  con- 
vincing power  as  an  apologetic  of  our  faith.  But, 
in  the  East  the  miraculous  basis  of  Christianity  con- 
tinues to  hold  first  place  among  its  evidential  assets  ; 
and  will  continue  to  do  so  doubtless  for  a  long  time 
to  come.  The  poetic  temperament  of  the  East, 
especially  of  India,  will  always  demand  a  different 
range  of  apologetics  and  of  peculiar  Christian  de- 
fense from  that  demanded  by  the  prosaic  and  scien- 
tific West. 

II 

Then  we.  have  Life  Problems  to  solve  in  those 
lands.  We  do  not  adequately  realize  the  gulf  which 
separates  East  and  West  in  fundamental  concep- 
tions and  in  the  deepest  sentiments  of  life.  In  the 
East  and  in  Africa  there  is  much  that  is  exceedingly 
low  and  debasing  in  the  life  of  the  people.  The 
ethnic  and  other  non-Christian  faiths  have  cultivated 
such,  or  at  least  are  responsible  for  them.  Yet  those 
people  have  definitely  exalted  types  and  ideals  of  life 
and  aspiration  which  have  flourished  in  connection 
with  those  religions  and  are  in  some  way  identified 
with  them.  We  recognize  the  type  in  China  and  in 
Japan.  We  see  it  more  clearly  still  in  India.  That 
type  is  singularly  complementary  to  the  Western 
ideals  of  life  which  have  been  so  identified,  in  our 
mind  and  theirs,  with  Christian  demands  and  ideals. 
The  West  has  so  exalted  and  given  supreme  emphasis 


The  New  Problems  91 

to  the  aggressive  and  positive  type  of  character  that 
these  have  become  highly  enthroned  among  our  car- 
dinal virtues  ;  so  that  we  look  with  suspicion  and  con- 
tempt upon  that  other  hemisphere  of  life  which  does 
not  reveal  these.  We  speak  of  the  "  mild  Hindu  " 
and  regard  him  as  hardly  worthy  of  our  respect.  We 
forget  that  the  passive  virtues  which  have  shone  with 
such  exclusive  lustre  in  India  are  as  truly  a  part  of 
Christian  life,  as  taught  and  exemplified  by  Christ, 
as  are  the  assertive,  aggressive  virtues  which  have 
been  so  emphasized  by  us.  They,  for  instance,  ac- 
cept, with  us,  the  whole  of  the  second  table  of  the 
decalogue  ;  but  their  emphasis  upon  the  separate 
members  of  the  decalogue  is  entirely  different  from 
ours.  For  instance,  patience,  with  them,  is  the  su- 
preme virtue  of  God  and  man  ;  impatience  is  the 
grossest  sin.  We,  on  the  other  hand,  look  at  impa- 
tience as  a  mere  foible,  and  ordinarily  think  of  pa- 
tience itself  as  hardly  more  than  a  weakness  of  char- 
acter. 

Recently  an  Indian  teacher,  connected  in  service 
with  myself  in  South  India,  submitted  his  monthly 
report  in  which  he  played  fast  and  loose  with  the 
truth.  Upon  discovering  thisT  at  once  expressed, 
with  occidental  vigour  and  rigour,  my  abhorrence  of 
such  falsehood,  if  not  my  contempt  for  the  man  who 
uttered  it.  That  man  understood  my  view-point  as 
little  as  I  did  his.  He  regarded  my  impatience  as  a 
much  more  radical  and  reprehensible  evil  than  his 
own  lying.  Who  was  the  more  correct  in  his  view- 
point and  emphasis  ?    We  must  remember  that  the 


92  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

other  hemisphere  of  life,  of  virtues,  of  ideals,  is  com- 
plementary to  that  which  we  have  so  assiduously  and 
excessively  cultivated  in  the  West.  And  we  must 
understand  the  real  value  of  the  non-resisting,  pa- 
tient, enduring  life  of  the  East,  in  order  that  we  may 
exalt  it  adequately  and  relate  it  properly  to  our  own 
type.  The  Christian  worker,  realizing  this  relation- 
ship, should  aim  to  present  to  the  converts  a  full- 
orbed  type  of  Christian  life,  combining  the  Eastern 
and  Western  emphasis. 

Ill 

New  problems  of  work  also  are  absorbing  the 
thought  of  the  missionary  host  and  demanding  so- 
lution, even  as  some  of  the  older  problems  are  clam- 
ouring for  modern  treatment  and  new  answers. 

(a)  We  are  confronted,  upon  the  threshold  of  our 
enterprise,  with  the  initial  interrogation  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  work  which  we  aim  to  accomplish. 
What  task  does  the  Church  of  God  propose  for  itself, 
as  it  sends  its  messengers  to  non-Christian  lands  ? 
It  is  a  far  greater  work  than  Christians  have  realized. 
They  are  apt  to  give  all  but  exclusive  emphasis  to 
one  aspect  of  the  work  to  be  performed,  and  thus  to 
narrow  and  to  render  ineffective  their  missionary 
labours.  We  should  keep  in  mind  the  fourfold  mes- 
sage which  our  Lord  brings  to  us  through  the  four 
evangelists.  Through  Matthew  (xxviii.  18-20)  He 
proclaims  His  universal  authority  and  presence  as  a 
basis  for  enforcing  the  most  difficult  command — that 
of  discipling  and  teaching  the  nations.     The  Church 


The  New  Problems  93 

is  yet  to  realize  the  full  significance  and  supreme 
difficulty  of  this  task.  It  demands  infinite  patience 
and  faithfulness.  Through  Mark  (xvi.  15,  16)  comes 
His  command  in  words  of  even  more  overwhelming 
significance  and  arduous  content ; — "  Go  ye  into  all 
the  kosmos  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  whole  crea- 
tion." If  the  character  of  the  work  seems  less  dififi- 
cult,  in  these  words,  the  field  seems  wider,  apparently 
embracing  the  irrational  as  well  as  the  rational  crea- 
tion. It  is  the  restoration  of  the  whole  creation  and 
the  work  of  bringing  it  to  a  more  than  pristine  glory. 
Luke  finds  in  the  words  '*  witness  "  and  "  power  " 
his  emphasis  upon  the  final  Commission  (Luke  xxiv. 
48,  49.  See  also  Acts  i.  8).  Here  again  the  sphere 
extends  to  "  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,"  but 
the  function  is  that  of  witness-bearing ;  and  as  that 
has  to  be  more  through  life  and  conduct  than  voice 
and  public  declaration,  they  were  told  to  tarry  until 
they  **  be  clothed  with  power  from  on  high."  When 
the  full  significance  of  being  Christ's  witnesses,  as  a 
testimony  for  Him  through  an  ardent,  faithful,  holy 
life  is  understood,  then  will  also  be  appreciated  the 
supreme  need  of  the  heavenly  enduement  that  that 
witness  may  be  as  unhesitating  as  it  should  be  un- 
equivocal. The  element  of  the  Commission  which 
impressed  St.  John,  and  which  he  conserves  for  us 
(xx.  21-23),  is  the  distinct  one  of  the  missionary 
character  of  the  service  (**  even  so  I  send  you  ")  of 
the  Church,  coupled  with  the  transfer  and  bestowal 
of  definite  authority  and  blessing  upon  it  for  this 
service — "•  whosesoever's  sins  ye   forgive,    they  are 


94  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

forgiven  unto  them,"  etc.  It  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  with  a  world-wide  mission  the  Church  possesses 
also  a  heaven-deposited  gift,  even  a  power  to  confer 
upon  the  world  a  peace  and  a  spiritual  blessing  such 
as  comes  only  through  its  union  with  Jesus  Christ. 

Thus,  our  Lord  has  committed  to  His  people, 
through  the  fourfold  gospel  message,  a  work  which 
is  all-embracing  in  its  sweep.  It  carries  in  itself  our 
duty,  not  only  to  all  the  race,  but  to  every  member 
of  it.  It  is  not  superficial  in  its  character.  It  in- 
volves the  work  of  preaching  the  full  message  every- 
where, of  discipling  the  nations,  of  nursing  them  into 
living  vigour  and  outgoing  activity,  and  of  revealing, 
through  life  and  character,  the  living  Christ  so  that 
men  everywhere  may  know  Him  and  be  transformed 
into  His  image.  The  Gospel  does  not  furnish  us 
warrant  for  any  narrow  vision,  or  inadequate  theory 
about  the  missionary  duty  and  glorious  opportunity 
of  the  Church.  It  is  as  broad  as  the  world,  as  com- 
prehensive as  life  and  as  far-reaching  as  sin  in  all  its 
ramifications. 

{b)  Kindred  to  this  question  is  that  concerning 
the  missionary  objective  on  the  field — shall  it  be  the 
conversion  of  the  individual  or  the  transformation  of 
society  ?  The  Protestant  aim  has  been  too  exclu- 
sively individualistic,  because  it  has  been,  as  a  move- 
ment, mainly  confined  to  Anglo-Saxon  and  kindred 
peoples  with  whom  individualism  has  found  supreme 
emphasis.  To-day  it  is  gradually  transferring  the 
emphasis  from  the  individual  to  society.  The  salva- 
tion of  a  people  is,  perhaps,  a  higher    aim    and  a 


The  New  Problems  95 

worthier  ambition  than  the  redemption  of  individ- 
uals. The  distinction  between  these  two  objectives 
is  aptly  illustrated  by  Rev.  Bernard'  Lucas  in  the  fol- 
lowing words : 

**  To  the  older  theology,  India  was  a  ship  on  the 
rocks,  and  the  missionary  was  the  life-boatman  en- 
gaged in  the  task  of  picking  up  the  few  survivors 
who  were  swept  within  his  reach,  and  who,  if  he 
failed  to  reach  them,  were  carried  away  to  eternal 
destruction.  To  the  modern  mind,  on  the  other 
hand,  India  is  a  ship  which  is  salvable,  not  on  the 
rocks,  but  aground ;  and  the  real  missionary  enter- 
prise is  not  that  of  picking  up  a  few  survivors  from 
a  hopeless  wreck,  but  of  bringing  the  ship  into  port 
with  all  on  board.  There  is  sufficient  truth  in  the 
illustration  to  justify  its  use  for  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing the  contrast  between  the  newer  and  older  con- 
ception of  the  Church's  task.  If  the  people  are  to 
be  saved,  the  ship  itself  must  be  brought  into  port. 
Above  all,  he  has  realized  that  the  people  will  not 
leave  the  ship.  This  last  fact  must  be  grasped  by 
the  Christian  Church,  with  all  that  it  signifies,  if  its 
cry  of  India  for  Christ  is  to  have  any  real  meaning. 
The  great  work  amongst  the  outcaste  population 
has  been  the  pressing  work  of  picking  up  those  who 
have  been  swept  overboard,  and  of  whose  welfare 
those  who  remained  on  board  were  callously  indif- 
ferent. We  have  landed  them  on  sand-banks  and 
on  desert  islands,  and  supplied  them  with  as  much 
of  our  stores  as  we  could  give,  but  the  question  of 
their  future  is  one  of  grave  anxiety.     It  has  been  a 


96  The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

noble  work,  and  worthy  of  all  the  consecrated  and 
heroic  effort  which  has  been  spent  upon  it,  but  it  is 
not  the  salvation  of  India,  We  must  not  shut  our 
eyes  to  the  fact  that  the  India  we  have  come  to  save 
is  a  ship  which  is  aground  ;  and  that  the  true  task 
which  confronts  us  is  that  of  getting  her  floated,  her 
damages  repaired,  her  disorganized  crew  and  dis- 
tracted passengers  organized  and  encouraged,  so 
that  she  may  proceed  on  her  way  to  the  port  to 
which  she  is  bound."  ^ 

Mr.  Lucas  realizes  that  his  illustration  is  open  to 
criticism.  Still  it  is  admirably  suited  to  reveal  the 
importance  of  this  new  vision  and  this  modern  em- 
phasis as^  the  idtimate  purpose  of  the  missionary. 
But  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  divert  the  attention 
of  the  Church,  or  its  messengers,  from  the  urgent 
and  immediate  duty  of  saving  and  rehabilitating 
every  member  of  a  race  or  tribe  as  the  only  sure 
way  to  touch  and  elevate  the  whole  life  of  the  cor- 
porate or  national  body.  A  nation  is,  indeed,  in 
some  respects  more  than  the  sum  of  the  individual 
members  which  compose  it ;  and  its  spiritual  re- 
demption must  be  an  ever-present  prayer  and  as- 
piration of  the  missionary  and  the  Church  of  God. 

Still  there  is  a  real  temptation  for  one  to  make  this 
aim  antithetical  to  that  for  the  salvation  of  individ- 
uals, and  to  substitute  it  for  the  immediate  purpose  to 
touch  and  to  glorify  individual  life.  Dr.  R.  E.  Speer 
well  remarks  that  **the  primary  aim  of  foreign 
missions     is    to    reach    individuals    and   to    make 

I  "The  Empire  of  Christ,"  p.  106. 


The  New  Problems  97 

Churches  out  of  them,  and  through  these  Churches 
to  redeem  the  life  of  humanity.  All  that  can  be 
done,  meanwhile,  for  society,  which  will  make  Christ 
known  to  it  and  in  it,  will  be  done.  When  individ- 
uals will  not  be  reached,  the  enterprise  will  not  let 
go."  ^  At  any  rate  this  is  the  most  tangible  work, 
the  most  available,  urgent  and  easily  achieved  by 
every  Christian  worker  on  the  mission  field.  And 
there  is  serious  danger  lurking  in  the  missionary  life 
of  any  one  when  the  glamour  of  a  great  racial  pur- 
pose is  allowed  to  interfere  with  his  loving  and 
patient  every-day  work  to  win  the  man  next  to  him 
to  the  Christian  life. 

And  the  danger  is  tenfold  increased,  if,  in  the 
place  of  the  conversion  of  men  to  a  true  Christian 
life,  he  has  substituted  the  vague  ambition  to  intro- 
duce into  the  new  community  a  **  broad  Christian 
civilization."  There  is  an  important  truth  in  Dr. 
Speer's  contention  that  "to  spread  what  we  know  as 
Christian  civilization  over  the  world  is  not  the  aim 
of  foreign  missions,  nor  is  it  an  adequate  aim  for  the 
Christian  Church  to  cherish  for  her  mission  to  the 
world.  Christian  civilization  owes  what  is  good  in 
it  to  Christianity;  but  that  civilization  is  distinctly 
occidental,  not  universal,  and  it  is  seamed  with  evil. 
It  is  an  open  question  whether,  apart  from  its  dis- 
tincdy  Christian  elements,  it  has  not  done  more 
harm  than  good  to  the  non-Christian  people."  The 
Church  will  not  err  by  holding  itself  severely  to  the 
sublime  task  of  bringing  individual  souls  to  Chrfst 

1 "  Christianity  and  the  Nations,"  p.  109. 


gS  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

in  order  that  it  and  they  may  thereby  Christianize 
and  elevate  the  whole  people. 

(c)  To  what  extent  shall  missions  undertake  and 
conduct  educational  work?  The  reply  to  this 
question  will  largely  depend  upon  the  people 
among  whom  missions  are  established.  In  Japan, 
the  educational  system  of  the  government  is  so  all- 
inclusive  and  so  thoroughgoing  that  common 
schools  and  even  higher  institutions  are  outside  the 
sphere  of  missionary  activity.  It  is  .only  as  mis- 
sions, in  that  land,  discover  unique  forms  and 
methods  of  educational  work  that  they  regard  them 
as  a  missionary  opportunity. 

In  Africathe  people  are  so  low  and  the  educational 
problem  rs  in  such  an  elementary  stage  of  solution, 
that  hardly  any  of  the  questions  that  seriously  con- 
front missionaries  in  civilized  lands  have  arisen,  or 
are  likely  to  arise,  in  that  land. 

In  many  respects  the  situation  in  India  is  unique. 
It  is  under  the  segis  of  a  Christian  government  whose 
ambition  is  to  educate  as  many  of  the  people  as  it 
can.  Its  poverty  is  such  that  it  has  been  unable  to 
inaugurate  a  free  and  compulsory  system  of  educa- 
tion. It  has  therefore  invited  the  cooperation  of 
missionary  and  other  private  organizations  in  this 
important  work,  and  has  granted  them  financial  aid 
towards  the  maintenance  of  their  schools.  The  pe- 
culiar condition  of  India  has  created  this  mutual  re- 
lationship of  the  state  and  missionary  societies  in 
this  common  work  of  education. 

There  are  many  definite  signs  that  this  relation- 


The  New  Problems  99 

ship  between  government  and  missionary  bodies  is 
on  the  eve  of  great  changes  which  will,  doubtless, 
very  much  modify,  if  not  completely  transform,  the 
missionary  educational  problem  in  India. 

In  the  first  place  the  era  of  a  free  education  is, 
doubtless,  at  hand.  This  matter  has  recently  been 
raised  by  the  imperial  government ;  and  it  is  only  a 
matter  of  time  when  a  free  primary  education  will 
be  furnished  to  the  youth  of  India. 

As  a  complement  to  free  education  there  will 
naturally  follow  a  more  thorough  control  of  such 
non-government  schools  as  will  avail  themselves  of 
the  new  system.  And,  what  is  more  discouraging 
to  the  missionary  educationist,  the  government, 
which  was  formerly  his  strength  and  encouragement, 
now  lends  itself  to  the  idea  of  the  complete  subjuga- 
tion of  missionary  aided  institutions.  So  that  mis- 
sionary bodies  must  question  more  and  more  the 
wisdom  of  an  alliance  with  the  government  in  a 
work  whose  duties  and  financial  responsibilities  rest 
upon  one  party,  while  the  direction  and  the  control 
are  the  sole  prerogative  of  the  other.  Within  a  few 
years  the  most  pressing  missionary  problem  of  the 
day  will  be  the  consideration  whether  missions  shall 
not  entirely  withdraw  from  any  connection  with  the 
State  in  the  conduct  of  their  schools,  and  shall  not  be 
content  to  do  their  own  educational  work  in  a  pri- 
vate and  a  more  humble  way,  but  with  absolute  free- 
dom to  do  it  in  harmony  with  their  higher  spiritual 
purposes  and  as  a  direct  propaganda  of  the  cause 
which  they  are  established  to  advance. 


loo        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

The  growing  eagerness  of  many  of  the  people  and 
the  increasing  readiness  of  the  educational  depart- 
ment to  introduce  the  conscience  clause  into  the  gov- 
ernment educational  rules  will  furnish  to  most  mis- 
sions the  ground  for  readjustment  in  this  matter  and 
a  reconsideration  of  the  whole  problem  of  missionary 
education. 

In  China,  marvellous  changes  are  taking  place  and 
none  greater  than  those  in  the  educational  situation. 
The  ancient  system  of  learning,  with  its  old  style  ex- 
aminations, which  for  nearly  two  thousand  years 
gave  character  to  the  culture  of  the  land,  has  just 
been  abolished  and  Western  learning  and  ideals  sub- 
stituted for  it.  Provincial  colleges  have  been  opened 
on  definitely  Western  lines.  In  the  Province  of 
Chihli  is  found  the  greatest  educational  advance.  It 
has  its  university,  its  colleges  and  its  schools  of  all 
grades,  numbering  nearly  five  thousand  institutions, 
and  all  breathing  the  Western  spirit.  In  other  parts 
of  the  land,  also,  the  craze  for  the  new  education  of 
the  West  possesses  government  and  people  alike. 
How  long  it  will  last  no  one  knows.  At  the  present 
time  this  certainly  is  a  loud  call  to  the  missions,  in- 
dividually and  collectively,  to  push  and  multiply 
their  educational  activities  so  as  to  increase  their  op- 
portunities to  present  Christ  to  the  young,  and  to 
build  up,  among  the  educated,  a  new  philosophy  of 
life  on  a  Christian  foundation. 

How  large  a  place  shall  education  occupy  in  mis- 
sion economy  ?  It  is  not  easy  to  give  a  general 
reply  to  this  question  ;  for  there  are  certain  mission- 


The  New  Problems  lol 

ary  bodies  whose  genius  seems  to  be  in  the  Hne  of 
education,  while  others  are  definitely  evangelistic  in 
their  gifts.  These  special  gifts  miist  be  consulted. 
I  have  seen  a  Christian  body,  which  was  well  known 
for  its  evangelistic  powers  and  gifts  of  preaching, 
throw  itself  with  great  excess  of  emphasis  into 
higher  educational  work.  It  required  some  years  for 
it  to  discover  its  error,  to  retrace  its  steps,  to  find 
itself  and  to  win  the  success  which  has  subsequently 
come  to  it. 

The  danger  which  besets  our  missions,  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  is  that  of  overemphasizing  education. 
During  the  last  few  years,  the  spirit  of  evangelism 
has  found  in  India,  relatively,  an  ever-diminishing 
place,  while  at  the  same  time  educational  work  finds 
an  ever-increasing  dominance  in  mission  economy. 
There  are  definite,  if  not  adequate,  reasons  for  this. 
Education  is  becoming  more  and  more  specialized. 
One  department  after  another  of  educational  activity 
has  sprung  up,  each  one  demanding  the  time  of  one 
or  more  missionaries.  In  my  own  mission  only  two 
missionaries  gave  their  whole  time  to  the  training  of 
the  young  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  eight  may  be  said  to  give  themselves,  with 
more  or  less  exclusiveness,  to  this  department.  And 
we  are  crying  for  a  still  larger  proportion  of  our 
force  to  take  up  this  form  of  activity.  It  is  not  only 
that  we  are  specializing ;  we  are  using  so  much  of 
our  financial  resources  in  the  development  of  this 
work  that  evangelistic  effort  has  now  only  an  hum- 
ble and  insignificant  place  in  our  activity  as  missions. 


l02        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

This  may  be  right.  In  older  missions  the  Indian 
Church  is  taking  up  more  and  more  of  the  evangel- 
istic work  formerly  done  by  the  missionaries.  It  is 
not  only  becoming  increasingly  self-supporting  but 
also  self-propagating.  It  is  one  of  the  most  en- 
couraging aspects  of  the  work.  But  should  it  not 
be  expected  also  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  edu- 
cating its  members  more  than  it  does  ?  How  far 
shall  the  older  missions  continue  to  spend  larg'e  sums 
in  the  education  of  their  youth  ? 

In  mission  economy  more  care  should  also  be  ex- 
ercised to  keep  the  various  departments  in  healthy 
relationship  one  to  the  other.  And,  in  this  matter  of 
educational  and  evangelistic  work,  no  mission  is  in 
a  healthy  condition  which  allows  its  evangelistic  fer- 
vour to  be  dampened  by  its  manifold  and  all-absorb- 
ing educational  activity.  The  church  must  not  be 
overshadowed  by  the  schoolhouse.  The  teacher 
must  not  crowd  out  the  preacher  and  the  pastor.  A 
sense  of  proportion  must  dominate  a  mission  ;  and 
that  which  has  always  been  the  foundation  of  mis- 
sionary life  and  success — its  evangelistic  spirit — 
must  not  be  relegated  to  a  second  or  third  place  in 
the  missionary  programme. 

Another  question  of  vital  and  growing  importance 
concerns  the  scope  of  missionary  education.  How 
broad  and  inclusive  shall  it  be  ?  In  the  new  educa- 
tion of  the  West  it  is  strenuously,  and  with  increas- 
ing success,  maintained  that  no  education  is  com- 
plete which  does  not  meet  all  the  needs  of  man — 
that  manual,  technical  and  industrial  training  are  as 


The  New  Problems  103 

essential  as  the  training  of  the  mental  faculties.  In- 
deed it  is  claimed  that  an  educational  system  is 
vicious,  if  it  does  not  include  the  training  of  the 
hand  and  of  the  eye.  Many  affirm,  like  the  Jews  of 
old,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  family  and  of  the  state 
to  train  and  qualify  every  boy  and  girl  for  a  handi- 
craft. There  is  some  truth  in  this  contention  ;  and 
one  is  not  inclined  to  dispute  it  in  its  reference  to 
such  a  country  as  America.  But  the  problem  is 
very  different  when  applied  to  missionary  education 
in  the  East. 

We  may  divide  missionary  educational  work  into 
the .  spiritual,  the  intellectual,  the  manual  and  the  in- 
dustrial. By  spiritual,  I  mean  that  kind  of  training 
which  qualifies  a  man  or  a  woman  to  undertake  spir- 
itual work  in  the  mission.  By  intellectual,  I  refer  to 
that  general  training  of  the  mind  w^hich  qualifies  one 
to  think  well  and  clearly  and  to  engage  in  higher 
intellectual  service.  By  manual,  I  mean  that  tech- 
nical training  of  the  hand  and  eye  which  gives  phys- 
ical dexterity  and  adds  to  one's  general  aptness  and 
ability  in  matters  physical.  By  industrial  education 
we  understand  that  training  which  prepares  one  for 
a  trade,  such  as  carpentry  or^  farming,  and  enables 
him  to  go  forth  as  a  capable  workman  to  earn  his 
living. 

Missionary  education  has  a  place  for  all  these 
departments  of  activity ;  and  I  have  mentioned 
them  in  what  I  regard  the  order  of  their  importance. 
The  training  of  the  spiritual  agency  which  shall  be 
able  to  shepherd,  guide  and  instruct  the  Christian 


104        '^^^  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

Church  and  shall  win  souls  to  Christ  is  the  first  duty 
of  every  mission  of  any  size  and  importance.  There 
is  little  objection  raised  to-day  to  the  manifold  forms 
of  intellectual  training  given  to  the  young,  as  it 
furnishes  the  best  opportunity  for  developing  the 
thought  and  life  of  the  youth.  Ours  is  an  intel- 
lectual faith ;  it  admirably  commends  itself  to  the 
educated  mind  and  to  the  well-trained  reasoning 
faculties.  Manual  or  technical  training  also  has  its 
definite  value,  especially  in  India  where  rnantial  and 
physical  dexterity  is  deemed  only  an  equipment  for 
the  menial,  and  where  the  adjective  "manual" 
brands  its  noun  with  dishonour.  No  one  can  ques- 
tion the  important  educational  value  of  this  training 
in  caste-ridden  India.  And  it,  moreover,  helps  greatly 
to  add  robustness  and  alertness  to  body  and  mind. 

Industrial  training,  also,  has  its  definite  value. 
Under  certain  conditions,  such  as  those  of  famine, 
when  many  orphans  are  added  to  the  cares  of  a  mis- 
sion, it  is  wise,  if  possible,  for  the  mission  to  give  to 
the  bulk  of  its  orphans  a  sound  industrial  training 
and  thus  qualify  them  for  some  trade  and  introduce 
them  into  a  wholesome  self-supporting  life.  Under 
normal  circumstances,  also,  a  mission  may  find  wis- 
dom in  industrial  training  and  peasant  settlements 
for  developing  the  manhood  and  the  general  ca- 
pacity of  the  Christian  community. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  evident  that  no  mission  can 
fully  utilize  all  these  departments  of  educational  ac- 
tivity. Every  mission  must  decide  for  itself,  there- 
fore, the  relative  importance  it  will  attach  to  every 


The  New  Problems  105 

one  of  these  and  how  far,  if  at  all,  it  will  carry 
them  on. 

The  day  has  doubtless  come  when  missions  need 
much  deliberation  and  self-restraint  in  this  matter. 
Not  a  few  of  the  younger  and  less  experienced  mis- 
sionaries (especially  those  from  America  where  in- 
dustrial training  has  become  a  hobby)  have  con- 
ceived a  passion  for  industrialism  and  regard  it  as  a 
panacea  for  all  the  ills  of  missionary  organizations. 
At  the  basis  of  this  new  enthusiasm  for  industrial 
activity  there  are  certain  thoughts  and  considera- 
tions which  need  more  careful  examination  and 
analysis. 

The  missionary  should  understand  the  serious 
limitations  which  circumscribe,  and  must  continue 
to  circumscribe,  missionary  effort  for  the  people  of 
his  field.  He  should  not  fail  to  realize  that  every 
dollar  expended  on  industrial  lines  is  thereby  prac- 
tically withdrawn  from  the  older  departments  of  mis- 
sionary work  ;  and  that  every  missionary  worker  who 
spends  his  time  in  these  industrial  efforts  must,  to 
that  extent,  relinquish  or  relax  his  efforts  and  inter- 
est in  departments  of  unquestioned  and  supreme  im- 
portance. 

The  industrial  emphasis  is  largely  owing  to  a  con- 
viction prevailing,  among  some,  that  the  native 
Church  will  never  become  self-supporting  until  it  is 
industrially  trained  to  earn  more  money.  How 
many  times  have  we  listened  to  the  plea  that  **  the 
native  Church  is  too  poor  to  support  itself.'*  **  Eirst 
teach  its  members  how  to  work  well  at  some  trade 


io6        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

and  to  earn  more  money ;  then  shall  we  see  a  self- 
supporting  native  Church."  This  is  largely  the  sen- 
timent of  inexperience.  The  Basel  Mission,  on  the 
west  coast  of  India,  has  done  more  than  any  other 
Indian  mission,  industrially,  for  its  people.  But  they 
acknowledge  that  the  result  has  been  not  a  manly, 
self-supporting,  independent  Christian  community ; 
but  a  community  sadly  afflicted  with  dependence 
upon  the  mission.  Every  new  convert  insists  that  it 
is  the  first  business  of  the  mission  to  furnish  him 
with  a  lucrative  employment !  Instead  of  independ- 
ence they  have  fallen  into  an  aggravated  form  of 
unmanly  helplessness. 

A  self-supporting  Christian  Church  has  not  been 
achieved  by  making  the  people  earn  more.  It  is 
rather  by  inculcating  the  blessedness  of  giving  ac- 
cording to  their  means,  however  small. 

There  is  also  a  feeling,  among  some,  that  any 
form  of  philanthropy  has  a  legitimate  claim  upon 
mission  funds ;  and  that  any  humanitarian  enterprise 
can  command  the  time  and  consecrated  energies  of  a 
Christian  missionary.  The  multiplication  of  these 
agencies  has  been  very  manifest  during  the  last  few 
years ;  and  the  eagerness  with  which  they  are  pur- 
sued is  a  thing  only  of  to-day.  The  wisdom,  if  not 
the  legitimacy,  of  this  whole  drift  of  missionary  ac- 
tivity is  a  matter  of  so  great  importance  that  mis- 
sionary societies  should  discuss  it  more  thoroughly. 
The  question  ought  to  be  raised  whether  missions 
can  afford  thus  to  dissipate  their  energies  and  to 
reach  down  from  the  higher  plain  of  useful  Chris- 


The  New  Problems  107 

tian  activity  to  the  lower  ranges  of  philanthropic  ef- 
fort, an  effort  which  concerns  itself  mainly  with  the 
temporal  affairs  of  the  people. 

It  is  well  that  we  heed  Dr.  Speer's  words  on  this 
subject.  **  Universal  charity  is  not  the  aim  of  the 
foreign  missionary  movement.  It  cannot  heal  or 
feed  the  world  any  more  than  it  can  educate  it,  and 
it  is  not  its  business  to  try  to  do  so.  All  that  the 
Church  is  giving  or  would  need  to  give  to  discharge 
its  distinctive  foreign  work  would  not  suffice  to  meet 
the  physical  sufferings  of  the  Yangtse  valley  or  to 
educate  Bengal.  The  philanthropic  work  of  mis- 
sions is  to  be  subjected  to  its  aim,  just  as  all  other 
methods.  The  business  of  each  missionary  in  his 
life,  and  of  each  mission  in  its  policy,  is  to  make 
Christ  known.  .  .  .  Our  Lord  did  not  go  about 
as  a  mere  healer,  nor  even  predominantly  as  a  phi- 
lanthropist. In  nothing  is  His  divine  wisdom  and 
self-restraint  more  clearly  seen  than  in  His  refusal  to 
become  simply  the  Philanthropist,  feeding  all  hun- 
ger, abolishing  all  need.  Paul  seems  purposely  to 
have  avoided  all  miracle-working  and  personal 
charity.  The  Saviour's  purpose  and  St.  Paul's  was 
not  to  meet  the  passing  physical  need  of  one  cen- 
tury, but  to  plant  in  the  world  the  eternal  life  of 
Christianity,  those  living  principles  which  would 
lead  each  century  to  meet  its  own  needs.  The  en- 
ergies by  which  St.  Paul  naturalized  Christianity 
throughout  the  Roman  Empire  might  have  been  ex- 
hausted in  the  effort  to  cope  with  the  physical  evils 
of  the  one  citv  of  Antioch.     He  had  a  greater  work 


lo8        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

to  do  and  was  strong  enough  not  to  sacrifice  the 
best  on  the  altar  of  a  good.  The  aim  of  foreign 
missions  is  not  to  care  for  all  the  industrial,  social, 
economic,  and  physical  ills  of  the  non-Christian 
world,  but  to  plant  there  the  living  seeds  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  the  incarnate  God.  That  Gospel  is  to  be  the 
healing  of  the  world  in  God's  own  day.  Foreign 
missions  will  have  passed  away  long  before  the 
dawning  of  that  day."  ^ 

(d)  The  question  of  diffusion  or  of  concentration 
in  mission  work  is  one  which  often  has  perplexed 
missionary  workers.  Many  missions  have  seriously 
crippled  their  usefulness  by  trying  to  occupy  too 
large  territories.  When  missionaries  are  too  far 
apart  to  be  of  mutual  support  and  inspiration  ;  when 
they  occupy  bilingual  regions,  where  the  language 
problem  always  presents  difficulties  and  makes  it 
impossible  to  unify  the  work ;  when  the  Christian 
congregations  are  so  distant  from  one  another  as 
not  to  be  acquainted  with  each  other  or  to  be  able 
to  encourage  and  inspire  each  other ;  then, — the 
mission  is  wanting  in  power  and  fails  to  exercise  ad- 
equate influence  in  the  district  occupied  by  it ;  and 
it  becomes  so  conscious  of  its  weakness  and  inad- 
equacy that  discouragement  overtakes  it.  Not  a  few 
missions  have  long  lingered  upon  the  border-land  of 
failure  because  they  have  tried  to  cover  too  much 
territory. 

In  older  missionary  lands  there  is  the  added  evil 
of  such  a  mission  preempting  an  area  of  country 

1"  Christianity  and  the  Nations,"  pp.  99,  loi. 


The  New  Problems  109 

which  it  does  not  in  any  sense  truly  "  occupy,"  and 
preventing  its  occupancy  by  other  societies  which 
are  seeking  fields  of  work.  The  writer  has  seen  this 
folly  work  manifest  evil  and  create  dissension  in  In- 
dia. Societies  which  are  first  in  the  field  have  thus 
been  in  danger  of  taking  undue  advantage  of  this 
right  of  preemption  and  of  scattering  their  feeble  re- 
sources and  limited  staff  of  workers  over  fields  which 
are  far  too  extensive  and  difficult  for  them  to  well 
occupy  and  quickly  to  Christianize.  Of  course,  they 
are  hoping  some  time  to  prosecute  their  work  more 
vigorously  with  a  larger  force  of  workers.  In  the 
meantime  other  workers  are  warned  ofl,  the  message 
is  preached  and  proclaimed  but  feebly  and  fitfully  to 
the  people  and  the  mission  itself  suffers  from  spirit- 
ual anaemia  and  loses  the  blessing  of  self-confidence 
and  hope. 

On  the  other  hand  we  must  not  forget  the  present 
totally  unoccupied  portions  of  even  the  oldest  mis- 
sion fields.  India  is  perhaps  the  best  occupied  mis- 
sionary territory  of  all  Asiatic  countries.  Yet  there 
are  regions  of  teeming  millions  there  where  there  is 
not  a  church  organization  to  bear  testimony  to  the 
Lord,  and  where  there  is  neither  a  foreign  missionary 
nor  Indian  Christian  worker  to  carry  the  message 
of  life.  If  it  be  thus  in  India  where  there  is  one 
missionary  to  every  60,000,  how  much  greater  the 
darkness  in  newer  missionary  fields  like  China  where 
there  is  only  one  missionary  to  every  100,000  souls 
of  the  population.  While  we  thus  see  the  utter.in- 
adequacy  of  the  missionary  force  to  discharge  well 


no        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

the  obligation  to  take  full  and  effective  possession 
of  the  world-field  the  question  returns  with  added 
significance — what  shall  we  do  with  our  present 
force  of  workers  and  financial  resources  ?  Shall  they 
be  concentrated  upon  small  sections  of  each  country, 
and  work  intensively,  with  a  view  to  create  speedily 
a  missionary  fire  at  each  of  these  centres  which  will 
spread  in  contagious  life  throughout  the  whole  re- 
gion ?  Or  shall  they  be  sent  forth,  few  though  they 
be,  to  every  part  of  the  world  to  diffuse  the  benefits 
of  the  Gospel  to  all  and  to  scatter  everywhere  the 
seed  of  Christian  truth  ?  The  reply  to  this  question 
will  vary  somewhat  according  to  the  character  of 
each  land  and  people.  It  will  also  differ  according 
to  the  complexion  of  the  theology  of  the  answerer. 
Personally  I  think  that  a  fair  amount  of  concentration 
possesses  superior  merits  as  a  policy.  The  more  one 
realizes  the  difficulty  and  the  complex  nature  of  the 
missionary  task ;  and  the  more  one  is  convinced 
that  the  Christianizing  of  the  world  must  depend 
vastly  more  upon  the  natives  of  each  land  than  upon 
foreign  missionaries  ;  and  the  more  one  learns  to 
place  confidence  in  the  native  Church,  established  in 
each  field,  as  the  mightiest,  and  indeed  the  only 
permanent  and  all  effective  propagator  of  Christian 
life  and  institutions  among  the  people  ;  the  more 
will  he  also  admire  and  follow  the  example  of  the 
Lord  who  gave  Himself  to  the  teaching  and  the 
preparing  of  the  Twelve  more  than  to  preaching  to 
the  multitude.  His  whole  brief  ministry  was  a 
marvellous  condensation  and  a  concentration,  whether 


The  New  Problems  1 1 1 

we  regard  its  time,  its  place,  the  immediate  recipients 
of  its  blessing  or  the  direct  objects  of  its  teaching. 
Blessed  is  that  mission  whose  field"  is  not  too  large 
and  whose  resources  of  saving  truth  and  hfe  can 
be  brought  fully  and  adequately  to  bear  upon  a 
responsive  community  which  can  speedily  be 
trained  in  the  service  and  nurtured  in  the  life  of  our 
Lord. 

(e)  Closely  allied  with  the  above  is  the  problem 
of  federation  and  cooperation  among  missions  of 
contiguous  territory.  The  era  of  isolation,  of  mu- 
tual suspicion  and  of  jealousy  has  largely  passed 
away.  A  thousand  reasons  call  upon  societies  and 
missions  to  forget  their  differences  and  to  unite  in 
the  common  work  to  which  the  Lord  has  called 
them.  To-day,  in  all  the  great  mission  countries,  a 
society  or  mission  which  persists  in  its  isolation  is 
doomed.  At  the  present  time  missionary  conferences 
are  established  in  all  great  portions  of  mission  lands  : 
and  in  these,  missionaries  of  all  communions  are 
found  ventilating  their  ideas  and  studying  the  view- 
points of  their  brethren  over  the  way.  They  de- 
liberate about  their  common  work  and  devise  ways 
and  means  of  mutual  helpfulness.  Thus  they  prac- 
tice modern  economy  and  seek  to  defend  themselves 
against  the  common  enemy.  In  Japan,  there  has 
existed,  for  some  years,  a  central  body  representing 
most  of  the  missions,  called  The  Standing  Committee 
of  the  Cooperating  Christian  Missions,  which  serves 
as  a  means  of  intercommunication  and  coordination. 
China  also  has  its  "  National  Counsel  of  Federation  " 


112        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

for  the  same  purpose.  In  South  India  there  has 
flourished,  during  the  last  few  years,  perhaps  the 
largest  and  most  useful  "  Missionary  Association  " 
in  the  world.  All  the  thirty-five  missions  of  that 
area  are  represented  in  its  membership  of  nearly 
five  hundred  missionaries.  It  has  done  much  in  the 
way  of  adding  power  and  self-consciousness  to  these 
missions,  of  revealing  and  enforcing  points  of  con- 
tact and  in  furthering  common  interests  and  fostering 
the  spirit  of  fellowship  and  federation  in  important 
lines  of  work.  It  has  found  redress  at  the  hands  of 
government  from  several  evils  and  disabilities  suf- 
fered by  the  Indian  Christian  community ;  and  it  has 
given  to  the  missionary  body  and  to  the  Indian 
Church  in  South  India  a  position  of  respect  and  of 
influence  such  as  they  never  before  possessed. 
Through  such  agencies  as  this,  which  are  rapidly 
multiplying  in  all  important  mission  lands,  remark- 
able progress  is  manifest  in  the  business  of  adding 
sanity  and  uniformity  to  mission  methods  and  poli- 
cies, in  developing  economy  in  the  conduct  of  mis- 
sion work  and  in  the  avoidance  of  waste  and  over- 
lapping in  various  departments  of  activity.  In  China 
and  in  India  and  Korea  efforts  have  recently  been 
made  which  have  been  very  successful  in  uniting 
various  activities  of  work  and  many  institutions  of 
learning. 

{/)  The  relation  of  missionaries  and  mission- 
ary bodies  to  the  governments  under  which  they  live 
and  labour  constitutes  one  of  the  important  and  per- 
plexing problems.     Commission  VII,  of  the  Edin- 


The  New  Problems  113 

burgh  World  Missionary  Conference,  has  considered 
this  matter  very  fully  and  wisely,  furnishing  the 
Church  not  only  with  a  full  discussion,  but  also  with 
definite  "  findings  "  or  conclusions  which  will  long 
give  guidance  to  societies  and  missions  under  trying 
circumstances. 

Missionaries,  under  Christian  governments,  gener- 
ally rejoice  in  that  they  have  the  prestige  and  guid- 
ance of  a  Christian  power  behind  them — a  govern- 
ment whose  conscience  may  generally  be  depended 
upon  to  rectify  evil  and  to  remove  injustice  and  re- 
ligious intolerance  and  persecution.  They  should 
therefore  avoid,  so  far  as  possible,  causing  any  em- 
barrassment to  the  State  through  their  presence  and 
missionary  activity. 

Under  non-Christian  governments  troubles  and 
complications  arise  which  frequently  embarrass  mis- 
sionary workers  and  render  their  task  a  most  deli- 
cate, if  not  an  impossible,  one.  Moslem  states  deny 
to  the  members  of  their  faith  the  rights  of  an  un- 
hampered conscience  and  the  boon  of  religious 
liberty.  This  has  always  been  the  case  under  Mos- 
lem dominion.  Japan,  on  the  other  hand,  has  under- 
gone a  marvellous  change  of  principles  and  of  prac- 
tice in  this  particular.  It  was  hardly  more  than  a 
half  century  ago  that  to  be  a  Christian  in  that  land 
was  a  capital  crime,  punishable  with  death  ;  and  the 
State  was  relentless  in  its  purpose  to  wipe  out  every 
vestige  of  the  Christian  faith.  To-day,  on  the  other 
hand,  she  has  laws  upon  her  statute  books  which 
are  truly  liberal  and  which  grant  religious  freedom 


114        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

and  rights  of  conscience  to  all  her  citizens.  She  is 
almost  abreast  of  Western  nations,  not  only  in  her 
religious  laws  but  also  in  her  purpose  and  endeavour 
to  execute  them.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  Japan  fur- 
nishes to  Christian  missions,  at  the  present  time,  pro- 
tection against  religious  bigotry  and  attack  and 
largeness  of  opportunity  unsurpassed  by  those  in 
most  favoured  Christian  lands  of  the  West.  ~  China 
also  is  rapidly  progressing  on  these  sanie  lines  of 
protection  to,  if  not  of  full  appreciation  of,  the  Chris- 
tian missionary  and  his  work.  And  this,  notwith- 
standing the  bitter  hostility  of  many  of  its  people 
and  the  periodical  **  Boxer  "  uprisings  which  make 
the  defense  of  Christians  a  very  expensive  thing  in 
money  and  life.  The  present  political  subjection  of 
Korea  to  a  foreign  power  has  led  the  Koreans  to  flee 
to  the  missionary  for  refuge  and  to  find  in  the  spirit- 
ual balm  of  Christianity  a  healing  for  their  political 
wounds. 

Under  these  favouring  circumstances  it  behooves 
the  missionary  to  assist  these  Eastern  States,  so  far 
as  possible,  in  their  endeavour  to  furnish  to  him  op- 
portunity for  Christian  propagandism — an  opportu- 
nity practically  unknown  to  the  East  in  all  past  time, 
as  indeed  it  is  only  very  partially  known  and  en- 
joyed in  some  Christian  States  of  Europe  to-day. 
The  missionary  must  recognize  the  difificulty  with 
which  these  non-Christian  governments  protect  him 
from  frequent  fanaticism  and  the  impatience  of 
religious  bigotry.  He  must  not  hasten  to  seek  re- 
dress  for  all  grievances    nor  compensation  for  all 


The  New  Problems  115 

losses  incurred  in  this  hazardous  work.  He  must 
cultivate  and  practice  patience  under  what  will  often 
seem  unrighteous  treatment.  The  resolutions  of  the 
Shanghai  Conference  of  1907  have  the  right  ring 
and  counsel  highest  wisdom  and  breathe  the  Spirit 
of  our  Master.  They  are  a  model  for  the  Christian 
missions  of  all  Eastern  lands.  They  read  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  I.  Resolved  :  — That  the  Protestant  missionary 
body  desire  to  express  their  deep  sense  of  obligation 
to  the  Chinese  government  for  the  large  measure  of 
protection  afforded  to  Christian  missionaries  and 
converts,  and  do  hereby  publicly  record  their  grate- 
ful acknowledgment  of  the  same. 

"  II.  Resolved : — That  while  the  time  has  not 
come  when  all  the  protection  to  Christian  converts 
provided  in  the  treaties  can  safely  be  withdrawn,  yet 
we  trust  that  equal  protection  to  Christian  and  non- 
Christian  Chinese  alike  may  be  so  given  by  the  lo- 
cal Chinese  authorities  that  any  intervention  of  mis- 
sionaries in  such  matters  may  speedily  become 
wholly  unnecessary.  We  therefore  exhort  all  mis- 
sionaries to  urge  upon  Chinese  ,Christians  the  duty 
of  patience  and  forbearance  under  persecution  for 
Christ's  sake,  and  also  to  make  every  possible  effort 
to  settle  matters  privately,  an  appeal  to  the  authori- 
ties being  the  last  resort,  and  then,  only  after  full 
and  careful  inquiry  into  the  real  facts  of  the  case,  so 
that  the  privilege  secured  by  treaty  to  Chinese  Chris- 
tians may  not  be  abused,  or  the  purity  of  the  Christian 
Church  corrupted  and  its  good  name  prejudiced. 


ii6        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

**  III.  Resolved  :  —  That  we  recomniend  all  mis- 
sionaries to  be  vigilant,  lest,  in  the  present  national 
awakening,  the  Christian  Church  should  in  any  way 
be  made  use  of  for  revolutionary  ends,  and  lest 
Chinese  Christians  should,  through  ignorance,  con- 
fusion of  thought,  or  misdirected  zeal,  be  led  into 
acts  of  disloyalty  against  the  government. 

"  IV.  Resolved  :  —  {a)  That  we  congratulate  the 
Chinese  government  on  the  efforts  they  are  now 
making  in  the  direction  of  reform,  and  assure  them 
of  our  hearty  sympathy  and  prayer  to  God  for  their 
success. 

**  {b)  That  we  affirm  that  we,  as  Protestant  mis- 
sionaries, have  no  political  aims  of  any  kind  either 
for  ourselves  or  for  our  converts,  that  our  mission  is 
wholly  moral  and  spiritual,  and  that  we  have  no  de- 
sire to  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  functions  of  the 
government ;  that  we  teach  and  enjoin  on  all  con- 
verts the  duty  of  loyalty  to  the  powers  that  be ; 
and  that  in  fact  there  are  no  more  loyal  subjects  of 
the  Empire  than  the  Chinese  Christians."  ^ 

In  this  connection  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the 
very  presence  and  counsel  of  Protestant  missionaries 
in  the  East,  with  the  positive  aid  they  have  rendered 
to  rulers  and  legislators  alike,  have  been  a  potent 
influence  in  producing  the  present  favourable  condi- 
tions for  missionary  activity  in  those  lands. 

There  are,  indeed,  times  when  missionaries  must 
stand  up  for  their  rights  in  the  interests  of  the  com- 
mon cause,  and  in  the  defense  of  the  sacred  claim 

*  Report  of  Commission  VII,  World  Missionary  Conference. 


The  New  Problems 


117 


of  humanity.  But  appeal  to  treaty  rights  and 
claim  for  protection  from  their  home  governments, 
whereby  international  complications  are  produced, 
should  be  resorted  to  only  in  the  direst  necessity. 

The  civil  and  social  rights  of  the  native  Christians 
must  find  protection  at  the  hands  of  the  missionary. 
Men  who  abandon  their  ancestral  faith  usually  do  so 
at  great  inconvenience  and  loss  to  themselves  and 
their  families.  The  customs  and  the  laws  of  their 
country  often  conspire  against  them.  The  possibility 
of  changing  one's  reHgion  never  occurred  to  the 
framers  of  the  written  and  unwritten  laws  of  those 
lands.  The  consequence  is  that  ancestral  property 
is  often  alienated  from  the  converts,  their  right  to 
bring  up  their  own  children  is  denied  them,  inter- 
marriage with  their  own  people  is  proscribed  to 
them,  and  all  sorts  of  social  ostracism  is  practiced 
upon  them.  All  these  are  the  usual  methods  of  an 
ethnic  faith  in  protecting  itself  against  outside  influ- 
ences ;  and  no  one  has  before  questioned  their  legit- 
imacy or  wholesomeness.  How  shall  the  Christian 
convert  be  protected  from  all  these  ?  It  is  some- 
times impossible.  He  must  be  taught  that  the 
highest  spiritual  blessing  lies'  in  the  pathway  of 
Christian  fortitude  and  endurance.  Many  native 
Christians  have  been  permanently  injured  in  the 
Christian  life  by  the  exceeding  readiness  of  their 
missionaries  to  smooth  out  all  roughness  from  their 
pathway.  Still,  a  certain  amount  of  help  and  en- 
couragement is  necessary.  In  China  the  dangerojus 
step  has  been  taken  of  including  the  converts,  with 


Il8        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

the  missionaries,  under  the  treaties.  A  toleration 
clause  has  been  added  for  them  as  well  as  for  the 
missionaries ;  and  thus  they  are  separated  in  a  legal 
way  from  the  mass  of  their  countrymen.  One  must 
doubt  the  wisdom  of  resorting  to  such  drastic  meth- 
ods, save  only  as  a  temporary  and  special  expedient. 
There  are  other  real  and  heavy  grievances  and  disa- 
bilities, under  which  converts  suffer.  When  laws 
despoil  them  because  they  accept  our  faith  ;  when 
courts  of  justice  are  utilized  as  means  to  drive  them 
back  to  the  ancestral  faith  ;  when  marriage  laws  and 
customs  are  framed  to  foster  the  heathen  home  and 
to  make  the  Christian  home  an  impossibility ;  and 
when  a  host  of  other  disabilities  frown  upon  the 
convert ;  it  is  the  solemn  business  of  the  missionary 
body  to  seek  relief  for  him  in  legislative  halls  and  in 
court-houses,  and  to  plead  with  the  government  for 
new  legislation  and  new  measures  which  will  bring 
justice  to  the  convert  and  which  alone  can  make 
Christianity  a  possibility  in  that  land. 

{£■)  The  value  of  Mass  Movements  on  mission 
fields  is  a  matter  much  discussed  by  missionaries. 
Such  movements  have  taken  place  in  India,  China 
and  Korea.  Probably  two-thirds  of  all  the  Protes- 
tant Christian  community  in  India  have  been 
harvested  through  such  movements.  The  accept- 
ance of  our  faith  by  individuals  and  families  is, 
doubtless,  its  normal  way  of  advance  in  non-Chris- 
tian lands.  The  expression  **  mass  movements  "  re- 
fers to  the  seeking  of  admission  to  our  faith  by  large 
bodies,  such  as  tribes,  castes,  guilds  or  communities. 


The  New  Problems  119 

These  movements  may  be  caused  by  a  general 
awakening  and  unrest  of  the  people  ;  it  may  be  the 
stress  of  an  industrial  or  a  social  injustice  ;  it  often  is 
connected  with  famines,  when  the  cruelty  or  indiffer- 
ence of  the  non-Christian  community  is  contrasted 
with  the  generous  sympathy  and  substantial  help  of 
Christians,  and  when  the  people  are  thus  led  to  see 
the  superior  value  of  our  faith  in  a  matter  which  ap- 
peals strongly  to  the  common  man. 

In  such  movements,  profoundly  encouraging 
though  they  be,  there  lurk  evils  and  dangers  not  a 
few.  Very  few  such  people  are  impelled  to  the 
change  by  any  deep,  well-defined  convictions  of  the 
spiritual  power  and  beauty  of  Christianity.  Their 
motives  are  of  the  ordinary,  worldly,  it  may  even  be, 
the  semi-sordid,  type.  Still,  we  are  not  seriously  dis- 
turbed by  the  character  of  the  objects  or  aims  of  this 
turning  of  the  people  to  our  faith.  What  lofty  pur- 
poses can  one  expect  from  such  a  crowd  ?  The  prob- 
ability is  that  more  than  nine-tenths  of  them  are 
simply  following  their  leaders,  unwilling  to  see  a  di- 
vision in  their  community  and  trusting  to  the  ear- 
nestness and  sagacity  of  the  ambitious  and  discon- 
tented few.  In  the  East,  life  is  largely  a  submissive 
following  by  the  crowd  in  the  blazed  pathway  of  the 
rare  and  daring  ones.  What  is  demanded  of  such 
converts  is  that  their  purpose  be  not  a  vicious,  or  an 
entirely  sordid  one,  unmixed  with  any  worthy  am- 
bition for  betterment.  Commission  II,  of  the  Edin- 
burgh Conference,  wisely  discusses  this  subject  and 
says  : 


120        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

"  Often  the  motives  are  neither  spiritual  nor  moral 
in  the  earlier  stages ;  but  when  it  is  admitted  that 
the  impulse  which  constitutes  such  a  movement  is 
one  towards  material  and  social  betterment,  rather 
than  towards  ethical  and  religious  advance,  it  is  still 
not  to  be  assumed  that  such  motives  are  sinister  or 
in  themselves  bad.  It  must  be  recognized  that  mo- 
tives may  be  elementary  and  may  operate  on  a 
comparatively  low  plane  of  human  impulse,  without 
being  unworthy  or  evil.  Even  when  the  present 
level  of  life  is  a  low  one,  those  who  act  upon  the  best 
that  is  known  to  them,  thereby  reach  levels  which 
formerly  were  out  of  their  reach.  A  highly  moral 
or  religious  impulse  is,  to  begin  with,  naturally  im- 
possible." 

As  a  consequence  of  such  a  movement  there  is 
often  a  serious  reckoning  in  the  backsliding  of  many 
disappointed  ones.  Moreover,  it  is  difficult  to 
rapidly  and  adequately  assimilate  a  large  number  of 
people.  They  cling  to  old  superstitions  most  tena- 
ciously and  encourage  each  other  in  their  preserva- 
tion and  practice.  It  is  difficult  to  find  trained 
preachers  and  teachers  who  will  wisely  and  well  in- 
struct them  and  will  bring  them  into  the  life  and 
into  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

Nevertheless  there  is  supreme  joy  to  the  mission- 
ary in  the  ingathering  of  such  masses.  It  brings 
with  it  a  vast  enthusiasm  and  a  new  access  of  power 
and  courage  in  the  assurance  that  the  cause  is  be- 
coming popular.  And  defections  after  such  move- 
ments are  fewer  than  is  often  supposed.     It  is  doubt- 


The  New  Problems  121 

ful  whether  one-tenth  of  those  thus  received  in  India 
have  gone  back  to  heathenism.  The  American 
Baptist  Telegu  Mission,  in  South  India,  is  the  largest 
in  India  and  is,  in  good  part,  the  product  of  mass 
movements.  The  same  is  true  of  the  American 
Methodist  Mission  in  North  India.  There  is  the 
further  advantage,  from  such  movements,  that  they 
are  conducive,  in  a  large  degree,  to  self-support  from 
the  beginning.  So  many  are  gathered  in,  that  it  is 
not  a  difficult  thing  for  them,  under  right  guidance, 
to  maintain  their  own  religious  services  and  schools. 

Many  other  problems  are  constantly  arising  in  the 
mission  field  and  demand  much  thought  and  prayer 
in  their  wise  solution.  These  mostly  arise  in  con- 
nection with  the  wise  direction  of  the  infant  Church 
and  the  mutual  relation  of  the  many  missions  and 
forces  now  engaged  in  this  great  enterprise.  It  is 
only  as  God's  own  Spirit  is  constantly  sought  for 
wisdom,  and  His  guidance  is  daily  felt  on  every  mis- 
sion field,  that  the  solution  of  all  problems  will  re-r 
dound  to  the  speediest  advancement  of  His  King- 
dom in  all  those  lands. 


IV 

The  New  Methods  Which  it  Invites 


I 


^HIS  is  the  age  of  specialization,  of  scientific 
methods  of  approach  and  attack.  "  The 
simple,  crude  methods  of  the  past  are  inad- 
equate at  the  present  time.  The  old  picture  of  the 
missionary  sitting  under  a  tree,  in  the  tropics, 
preaching  to  a  crowd  of  half-naked  savages,  gath- 
ered around  him,  is  an  untrue  picture  of  the  present 
missionary  and  his  work.  Not  that  he  has  ceased 
to  preach,  but  that  kind  of  preaching  is  only  a  small 
part  of  the  missionary  life  and  experience  of  to-day. 
Missions  are  developing  constantly  in  complexity  ; 
departments  of  work  are  multiplying  and  new  prob- 
lems are  appearing.  This  demands  modern  and  im- 
proved methods.  With  increasing  insistence  and 
constancy,  up-to-date  methods  are  applied  to  the 
missionary  propaganda,  and  all  its  departments  are 
subjected  to  the  test  of  science. 

I 

It  is  now  recognized  that  the  same  methods  of  ap- 
proach cannot  be  applied  to  all  peoples.  Every  peo- 
ple must  be  won  by  methods  of  appeal  which  best 
suit  them.  The  modern  sciences  of  psychology  and 
pedagogy  carefully   discriminate   between  different 

122 


The  New  Methods  123 

students  who  are  to  be  taught.  They  seek  the  best 
way  of  imparting  its  truth  to,  and  of  developing,  the 
mind  of  the  child,  the  boy,  the  young  man,  or  the 
mature  person,  whom  it  approaches  ;  it  aims  to  reach 
each  mind  in  ways  adapted  to  its  specific  need  and 
condition. 

This  should  be  observed,  likewise,  in  the  mission- 
ary propaganda,  by  its  methods  of  appeal  to  the  many 
races  of  mankind.  Rev.  Bernard  Lucas  tells  us  that 
"The  older  conception  grouped  all  the  non-Christian 
races  of  the  world  together,  and  labelled  them  all  in- 
discriminately as  heathen,  retaining  more  or  less  of 
the  original  feeling  associated  with  the  word,  as  a 
description  of  ignorant  and  uncivilized  barbarians. 
The  result  has  been  that  the  Church's  Eastern  ques- 
tion has  been  entirely  misconceived  by  the  home 
churches,  and  more  or  less  inadequately  handled  by 
the  missionaries  she  has  sent  abroad.  The  home 
churches  have  expected  results  amongst  a  civilized 
and  cultured  people  similar  to  those  obtained 
amongst  rude  barbarians.  Methods  have  been  advo- 
cated and  adopted,  which,  however  excellent  as  far 
as  they  went,  are  totally  inadecjuate  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  Church's  task  in  the  East  as  we 
now  know  it."  ^ 

Few  things  are  more  fundamental  than  the  wise 
adaptation  of  the  missionary  message  and  the  judi- 
cious method  of  presenting  it  to  the  different  peo- 
ples of  the  world.  The  animists  of  Africa  must  re- 
ceive from  the  wise  missionary  the  Gospel  in  a  way  ^ 

1 "  The  Empire  of  Christ,"  p.  lo. 


124        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

suited  to  their  minds,  and  with  a  definite  purpose  of 
bringing  them  out  of  their  debasing  fetichism  to  a 
nobler  conception  of  God  and  of  themselves.  The 
message  must  be  plain  and  simple.  The  Brahman 
of  India  must  be  dealt  with  very  differently,  and  by 
means  of  a  higher  appeal,  and  a  loftier  message 
than  that  presented  to  the  African.  The  Gospel 
must  be  presented  to  him  in  its  profounder  specula- 
tive aspect.  And  he  will  need  to  be  carried  from 
his  pride  of  intellect  to  place  a  new  emphasis  upon 
the  supremacy  of  the  ethical,  in  religious  thought 
and  life. 

The  Chinaman,  also,  must  be  regarded  from  the 
standpoint  of  his  antecedents,  prepossessions  and 
temperament.  His  literature  must  be  studied  by 
the  missionary,  that  he  may  understand  his  view- 
point. How  different  from  the  appeal  to  him  must 
be  that  which  will  carry  conviction  to  the  Turk 
whose  training,  type  of  mind  and  inherited  bias  and 
prejudices,  coupled  with  his  higher  conceptions  of 
God,  and  partial  appreciation  of  Christ,  are  so  very 
different  from  his  fellow  Asiatic  in  the  Far  East. 

Even  among  the  same  people,  in  varied  stages  of 
their  growth,  different  methods  of  appeal  need  to  be 
applied.  A  third  of  a  century  ago  I  found  Hindus 
given  to  an  all  but  universal  belief  in  polytheism, 
and  the  appeal  to  them  was  based  on  their  accept- 
ance of  this  doctrine.  At  the  present  time,  I  hardly 
find  a  Hindu,  even  in  the  lowest  society,  who  does 
not  agree  with  us  in  the  unity  of  the  divine  Being  ; 
but  theirs  is  a  pantheistic  conception  of  unity.     A 


The  New  Methods  125 

new  method  of  approach  must  now  be  resorted  to 
by  the  successful  missionary  in  order  to  impress  the 
Christian  message  upon  them. 

Likewise,  the  Japanese  of  to-day  are  to  be  reached 
not  by  the  processes  of  fifty  years  ago  when  they 
were  far  removed,  in  many  respects,  from  that  which 
they  have  become.  Missionaries  in  the  Japan  of  to- 
day know  that  modern  thought,  with  its  cankering 
doubts,  has  ushered  in  a  condition  very  dissimilar 
from  that  which  formerly  prevailed ;  and  this  must 
be  met  with  rare  discretion  in  order  to  bring  them 
into  the  Kingdom. 

In  other  words,  the  missionary  must  keep  in  mind 
the  supreme  importance  of  adaptation  and  effective- 
ness in  the  modern  missionary  appeal.  Methods 
must  vary  in  order  that  they  may  be  consonant  with 
the  peculiar  needs  of  all  classes  and  communities. 
Thus  the  missionary  message  will  carry  added 
power  and  efficiency  in  bringing  the  world  to  Christ. 

This  also  reveals  the  importance  and  the  necessity 
that  all  who  enter  upon  the  missionary  service,  study 
with  considerable  thoroughness,  both  psychology  ) 
and  religious  pedagogy.  These  are  as  essential  to 
the  missionary  worker  as  are  the  sciences  which  are 
more  intimately  connected  with  his  profession. 

II 

The  positive  and  constructive  method  of  present- 
ing Christian  truth  is  imperatively  demanded  on  the 
mission  field. 

With  the  old  spirit  of  contempt  which  Western 


126        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

Christians  have  entertained  for  non-Christian  peoples 
it  was  natural  that  missionaries  from  the  West  should 
adopt  the  old  prophetic  method  of  ridicule  (Isaiah 
xliv.  15).  It  was  a  very  human,  as  it  was  an  easy, 
method  of  prefacing  the  Gospel  to  those  humble 
people.  But,  as  they  have  become  better  known, 
they  are  regarded  with  higher  esteem  and  with 
more  respect.  The  method  of  ridicule-  never 
achieves  much  in  the  reformation  and  in  the  re- 
demption of  any  people.  It  neither  edifies  nor  does 
it  bring  even  the  lowest  among  the  animists  to  an 
attitude  of  mind  which  makes  edification  possible. 
Dr.  Johan  Warneck,  who  spent  years  among  the 
animists  ofi  the  Indian  Archipelago,  uses  plain 
speech  in  reprobating  such  a  method. 

''Viewed  from  the  Christian  standpoint,  hea 
thenism  seems,  for  the  most  part,  a  caricature  of  re- 
ligion, yet  to  the  heathen  himself  it  is  a  sacred  and 
serious  thing.  He  has  a  right  to  demand  that  his 
religion  be  so  treated.  Mockery  of  his  religion 
means  to  him  mockery  of  religion  generally.  That 
path  may  lead  to  irreligion ;  it  does  not  lead 
to  a  new  faith.  Any  one  who  wishes  to  re- 
store the  heathen  to  health  by  an  operation 
must,  proceed  antiseptically ;  he  must  see  that  no 
poisonous  germs  of  decomposing  mockery  adhere  to 
his  knife. 

**  The  missionary  inclined  to  disputation  and  rail- 
lery will  at  first  know  far  too  little  of  the  heathen  re- 
ligion to  be  able  to  direct  against  it  any  efTective 
shafts.     Instead   of   hurting   idolatry  he  will  make 


The  New  Methods  127 

himself  ridiculous.  His  ironical  assertion,  *  You 
worship  wood  and  stone  which  are  devoid  of  life/ 
will  call  forth  laughter,  for  no  animist  worships 
wood  and  stone  ;  the  carved  figures  conceal  soul- 
stuff  in  a  special  degree  or  are  animated  media  of 
spirit  worship,  such  as  the  ancestor  images  of  the 
Niassers,  Papuans,  etc.  If  he  tries  to  make  a  sacri- 
fice ridiculous  by  saying,  '  The  food  offered  is  not 
consumed  by  the  spirits,  for  it  remains  where  it  was 
placed,'  he  only  betrays  his  ignorance  of  the  ani- 
mistic idea  of  sacrifice  ;  for  no  heathen  believes  that 
the  spirits  appropriate  the  matter  of  the  food :  it  is 
the  soul  contained  in  it,  the  vital  power,  which 
they  take  from  the  sacrifice.  The  important  thing 
even  for  living  men  is  not  the  matter  of  the 
food  they  eat  but  the  soul  which  it  contains.  The 
missionary  has,  therefore,  every  reason  for  keep- 
ing in  check  his  mockery.  The  dreadful  power 
of  heathenism  over  men's  minds  would  have  weak 
foundations  if  it  could  be  overcome  by  such  cheap 
polemics." 


**  Heathen  religiousness  is  determined  by  fear. 
But  fear  is  never  removed  by  derision  or  mere  vio- 
lence, as  we  see  in  the  case  of  frightened  children. 
Heathenism  is  groaning  under  a  burden  of  misery  ^ 
and  need.  Who  would  care  to  add  to  the  grief  of 
miserable  men  by  pouring  the  contempt  of  mockery 
on  their  unhappiness?  The  great  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles,   pattern   for   all   missionaries,   in   spite  of 


128        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

occasional  irony,  neither  destroyed  nor  ridiculed  any 
sanctuary." 


"Uncivilized  men  are  deeply  impressed  by  the 
superior  wisdom  of  white  men,  but  the  impression  is 
not  deep  enough  to  make  a  mocking  word  or  a 
brutal  act  of  violence  shake  their  allegiance  to  the 
religious  traditions  in  which  their  lives  are  rooted."  ^ 

I  can  bear  hearty  testimony  in  corroboration  of 
these  words.  I  have  never  seen,  during  my  long 
service  in  India,  any  good  wrought,  either  in  con- 
viction or  in  conversion  among  the  people,  by  the 
effort  to  make  them  or  their  religion  ridiculous. 
This  is  erninently  true  of  the  Aryan  people. 

Nor  has  any  good  been  achieved  by  the  process 
of  lacerating  the  feelings  of  the  people  through  con- 
stant attack  upon  the  weak  points  of  that  which 
every  man  must  cherish  more  than  his  life — his  own 
faith  and  that  of  his  ancestors. 

One  must  study  the  methods  of  Jesus.  Though 
ever  surrounded  by  debasing  ethnic  faiths  He  ab- 
stained from  attacking  them  and  had  but  deepest 
compassion  upon  the  people  as  they  pathetically 
groped  after  God  through  the  dark  by-paths  of  their 
religions.  Equally  suggestive  is  the  attitude  of  the 
great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  as  he  stumbled  over 
the  myriad  altars  of  Athens,  or  came  into  touch 
with  the  Roman  faith  at  the  metropolis  in  the  time 
of  its  greatest  degeneracy,  or  lived  for  years  in  close 

1 "  The  Living  Christ  and  Dying  Heathenism,"  pp.  202-206. 


The  New  Methods  129 

touch  with  the  demoralizing  Eastern  cult  at  Ephe- 
sus.  Everywhere  his  spirit  is  kindly,  his  language 
conciliatory,  and  his  message  to  the  people  one  of 
deep  sympathy  and  appreciation  of  their  past. 
Jesus  and  Paul  had  a  message  to  proclaim  which 
was  vital  and  saving  to  the  people.  They  gave 
themselves  entirely,  not  to  denouncing  the  ancient 
faiths,  but  to  building  up  the  new  faith  and  to  reveal- 
ing "The  New  Way"  in  as  engaging  and  attractive 
a  manner  as  possible.  This,  to  them,  was  enough. 
When  this  was  achieved,  the  abandonment  of  the 
old  faith  would  follow  as  a  matter  of  course. 

In  the  East  there  are  a  thousand  agencies  and  in- 
fluences working  for  the  destruction  of  the  ancestral 
faiths  of  the  people.  All  the  forces  of  education, 
science  and  general  enlightenment  are  a  protest 
against  the  old  superstitions  and  idolatries.  There 
is  only  one  force,  and  that  is  the  Christian  preacher 
and  teacher,  which  makes  positively  and  construct- 
ively for  Christian  truth  and  spiritual  life  in  Christ. 
Let  him  adhere  to  and  glorify  that  mission. 

The  destructive  method  demoralizes  also  the 
Christian  worker.  It  keeps  his  njind  more  upon  the 
errors  and  evils  of  the  religion  than  upon  the  sad 
and  deplorable  condition  of  the  people.  Of  the  re- 
ligion itself,  he  knows  and  appreciates  only  its 
weakest  points  and  worst  elements.  It  has  been  my 
business,  for  many  years,  to  prepare  and  send  forth 
preachers  into  the  great  harvest  field  in  India.  I 
have  always  endeavoured  to  impress  upon  their 
mind  the  solemn  duty  that  they  should  avoid,  as  far 


130        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

as  possible,  deriding  the  people  or  their  faith  and 
should  never  attempt  to  preach  before  either  a 
Christian  or  a  non-Christian  audience  without  carry- 
ing to  them  a  positive  gospel  message  of  life — a 
message  which,  in  the  literal  meaning  of  the  word, 
will  edify  and  ennoble. 

Ill 

The  method  of  simplicity  or  unity  should  be  fol- 
lowed by  all  who  desire  success  in  missionary  work. 
Concentration  in  this  matter  is  of  vital  importance. 
We  take  our  faith  too  much  as  a  philosophy  or  as  a 
system  of  truth,  which  we  not  only  believe,  but 
around  which  we  build  up  fortifications  for  its  de- 
fense, as  well  as  an  elaborate  ceremonial  for  its 
adornment.  The  old  missionary  habit  of  burdening 
the  message  with  a  multitude  of  Western  dogmas  and 
interpretations  should  be  abandoned,  or  very  much 
limited.  Into  the  fabric  of  our  faith  we  have,  as  we 
have  seen,  woven  much  of  our  mental  heritage  and 
philosophical  prepossessions  which  are  not  only  un- 
essential to  our  faith,  but  which  tend  to  mystify  and 
to  compromise  it.  One  has  said  that  "  we  need 
a  pre-Raphaelite  Gospel  (by  which  he  meant  a  pre- 
Athanasian  Gospel)  in  order  that  it  may  captivate 
the  mind  and  win  over  the  population  of  Moham- 
medan lands."  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  pres- 
entation of  our  faith  to  all  peoples.  That  missionary 
is  wise  who  will  eschew,  as  far  as  possible  in  his 
work,  the  elaborate  formulae  and  creeds  of  antiquity. 
Not  that  I  would  advocate  the  abandonment  of  all 


The  New  Methods  131 

theological  belief.  Every  man  must  formulate  his 
own  faith  to  himself  in  philosophical  terms  and  in 
theological  form.  No  Christian  worker,  in  any  land, 
can  simplify  the  Gospel  in  any  satisfactory  way  who 
has  not  already  adequately  learned  its  truth  and  is 
able  to  express  it  in  scientific  terms.  But  it  is  neither 
necessary  nor  expedient  for  him  to  make  known  that 
elaboration  in  the  Far  East,  or  to  express  his  faith  in 
such  terms  to  the  peoples  of  those  countries. 

The  simplicity  which  I  claim  for,  in  this  message, 
is  the  simplicity  of  Christ  Himself.  The  missionary 
message  of  to-day  must,  with  definiteness  and  dis- 
tinctness, be  centred  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  is  not 
only  the  Author  of  our  faith,  He  is  also  its  substance. 
To  know  Him  adequately  and  to  understand  the 
work  which  He  has  wrought  for  humanity,  and  to 
interpret,  in  simple  terms.  His  divine  words  of  wis- 
dom— this  is  not  only  the  fullness  of  our  message,  it 
is  also  the  richest  message  the  world  has  known,  and 
all-sufBcient  as  a  gospel  for  man  under  all  condi- 
tions. Thus,  centring  his  whole  message  around 
our  Lord,  the  missionary  finds  it  more  easy  to  ex- 
press the  Gospel  as  a  life  appeal.  Christianity  first 
of  all,  and  last  of  all,  is  neither  a  ritual  to  be  ob- 
served nor  a  system  of  truth  to  be  believed,  but  a  life 
to  be  lived.  It  is  essentially  and  preeminently  a 
practical  thing  which  applies  to  the  whole  life  and 
conduct.  It  appeals  to  the  common  man  in  all 
countries  and  grips  him  with  living,  eternal  power. 

The  East  needs  the  example  of  a  perfect  life  placed 
before  it  for  inspiration.     This  it  has  never  had  in 


132         The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

full  ethical  strength  and  spiritual  beauty.  Not  one 
of  the  lands  of  the  Far  East  has  yet  found,  among  its 
religious  leaders,  its  saints  and  sages,  one  whom  it 
has  exalted  before  the  people  as  a  perfect  ideal  for 
them  to  follow.  In  all  its  many  centuries  of  history 
India  has  never  known  among  its  myriad  gods  and 
numberless  sages  and  heroes  one  whom  it  has  ele- 
vated before  the  eyes  of  the  people,  and  has  said  to 
them  :  **  This  is  one  whom  men  everywhere,  and  you 
particularly,  can  follow  with  safety,  and  can  imitate 
with  the  assurance  of  attaining  a  perfect  character." 
The  most  popular  gods  of  India  are  the  triple  incar- 
nations of  sensuality,  of  deviltry,  and  of  cruelty — 
Krishna,  Ganesh,  and  Kali. 

And  when  the  Hindu  has  risen  in  thought  above 
these  embodied  deities,  it  has  only  reached  out  into 
wild  mystic  methods  of  union  with  the  ineflable 
One  through  the  crazy  processes  of  Yoga.  How 
strangely  has  the  Hindu  mind  yearned  after  union 
with  the  unknowable,  through  processes  that  are 
neither  intelligible  nor  commendable  to  the  Western 
mind.  To  such  a  people  the  sublimely  beautiful, 
simple  and  practical  life  of  Jesus  must  appeal  and 
will  ever  appeal  with  marvellous  power.  It  is  a  life 
that  has  been  applied  with  ethical  power  and  trans- 
forming spiritual  efficacy  to  the  common  man  the 
world  over.  The  life  of  Jesus  is  not  only  uplifting,  it 
also  brings  man  into  the  intimacy  and  secrecy  of  the 
divine  Presence  and  gives  him  a  vision  of  the 
heavenly  One  such  as  no  other  Personality  repre- 
sented in  any  other  faith  has  ever  been  able  to  give 


The  New  Methods  133 

to  man.  Jesus  Christ,  in  Eastern  lands,  has  already 
brought  to  millions  a  unique  vision  of  the  perfect  life 
and  a  divine  inspiration  and  opportunity  to  enter 
that  life.  Recently  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
Hindu  Brahman  gentlemen  in  South  India  remarked 
that  "Jesus  Christ  upon  the  cross  represents  the 
highest  type  and  noblest  ideal  of  life  that  India  has 
ever  known.'*  Yet  no  one  in  India  is  more  familiar 
with  the  Pantheon  and  the  myriad  legends  of  Hin- 
duism than  is  this  man.  A  few  years  ago  I  went  to 
visit  Protab  Mozoomdar,  in  Calcutta.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  leaders  in  the  Brahmo- 
Somaj  movement.  He  wrote  a  beautiful  book  on 
"  The  Oriental  Christ," — a  book  which  Christians  of 
the  West  might  read  with  great  profit.  He  had  a 
passion  for  our  blessed  Lord  beyond  that  of  most 
Christians  that  I  have  known.  On  one  occasion  he 
said  :  "  Christ  is  a  tremendous  reality.  The  destiny 
of  India  hangs  upon  the  solution  of  His  nature  and 
our  relation  to  Him."  That  man,  with  all  his  mis- 
conceptions concerning  Christ,  was  worth  knowing 
as  one  possessed  of  a  view  of  the  Christ  which  was 
rich  in  its  beauty  of  oriental  colouring  and  warm  with 
the  fervent  passion  of  the  tropics.  Jesus  meant  much 
to  him  in  all  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  both  as  an 
ideal  of  life,  an  inspiration  to  the  highest  reaches  of 
character  and  a  power  of  God  unto  the  elevation  of 
man  everywhere.  It  is  true  that  he  did  not  regard 
Him  from  the  exact  view-point  of  an  orthodox  Chris- 
tian of  the  West.  But  this,  I  believe,  was  because 
he  approached    Him    as  an  Oriental,   and    inter- 


1^4        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

prated  Him  as  an  undisciplined  brother  of  the 
East  would.  Jesus  meant  much  to  him,  notwith- 
standing his  inadequate  conception  of  His  nature  ; 
and  He  means  more  perhaps  to  not  a  few  Hindus  of 
culture  in  India  than  He  does  to  many  of  our  unim- 
aginative and  sordid  Christians  of  the  West  at  the 
present  time.  One  of  these  men,  a  Brahman  friend 
of  mine  in  South  India,  was  so  enamoured _of  that 
beautiful  book  of  Christian  devotion,  Thomas  a 
Kempis'  ''  Imitation  of  Christ "  that  he  translated  it, 
a  few  years  ago,  into  the  Tamil  language,  and 
handed  his  manuscript  to  another  Brahman  gentle- 
man, who  is  a  publisher,  and  who  published  it 
serially  in  his  monthly  magazine  for  Hindu  readers ; 
for  he  knew  that  Hindu  men  of  thought  and  of  high 
aspiration  everywhere  desire  to  know  how  to  imitate 
Christ,  and  to  live  in  the  constant  atmosphere  of  His 
presence. 

The  dawn  of  a  new  day  of  Christian  propagandism 
will  rise  upon  the  missionary  enterprise  through  the 
non-Christian  world  when  Jesus  Christ,  in  His  life 
and  death  and  teaching,  shall  become  more  exclu- 
sively the  missionary  message. 

IV 

Christianity  must  be  presented  to  the  non-Chris- 
tian communities,  not  as  an  elaborate  ceremonial,  a 
colossal  hierarchy,  or  a  dogmatic  system  of  truth.  It 
is  to  be  inculcated  rather  as  a  moral  dynamic  and  a 
spiritual  power.  It  is  not  well  to  bury  Christ  again 
in  a  cold,  Eastern  grave  of  ritual ;  even  though  He 


The  New  Methods  135 

may  be  adorned  and  glorified  by  those  forms  and 
ceremonies  and  prelatic  pretensions  and  theological 
formulae  which  have  been  so  conspicuous  in  the  past 
history  of  our  faith.  We  must  have  a  risen  Christ, 
entering  with  ethical  power  and  transforming  spirit- 
ual beauty  into  the  life  of  every  new  convert. 

It  is  true  that  the  people  of  the  East  require  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  ritual.  The  oriental  mind  is  so 
framed  that  it  depends  more  upon  the  ceremonial 
and  other  outward  forms  of  religion  than  does  the 
Occident.  It  is  in  the  East  that  all  forms  of  ritual 
have  reached  their  highest  expression  and  have  suf- 
fered largest  abuse,  because  they  have  been  allowed 
to  dominate  faith  and  to  take  exclusive  control  of  the 
religious  mind.  But  no  one  can  live  in  the  East  for 
a  long  time  without  appreciating  how  much  those 
ancient  peoples,  with  their  poetic  nature,  depend 
upon  the  outward  symbols  and  forms  of  religion.  I 
would  regret,  therefore,  to  see  our  faith  impoverished 
in  this  particular,  and  reduced  to  puritanical  simplic- 
ity in  those  Eastern  countries. 

The  danger,  however,  is,  and  has  been  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  faith  in  the  East,  lest  Christianity  be 
brought  to  those  people  with  altogether  too  elaborate 
a  ceremonial  and  with  hierarchical  assumptions, 
which  altogether  eclipse,  if  they  do  not  entirely  ig- 
nore, its  moral  qualities  and  spiritual  influences. 
The  Armenian  Church  in  Turkey,  the  Syrian  Church 
in  India,  and  the  Romish  Church  in  all  the  lands  of 
the  Far  East  are  overwhelmingly  ritualistic,  oppressed 
with  a  thousand  meaningless  forms  and  ceremonies, 


136        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

and  crushed  under  a  weight  of  prelatic  conceits 
which  so  absorb  the  thought  and  religious  attention 
of  the  poor  people  that  they  have  no  time  to  con- 
sider, nor  has  any  one  else  any  time  to  help  them  to 
understand,  the  true  spiritual  significance  and  the 
ethical  content  of  the  faith  which  they  have  em- 
braced. Thus  Christian  life  in  those  lands  has  be- 
come stereotyped,  unprogressive,  and  is  given-to  the 
mumbling  of  unknown  phrases  and  meaningless 
mantharas.  This  has  always  been  the  danger  of  re- 
ligious life  in  the  East ;  and  if  Christianity  is  to  lift 
those  people  out  of  the  depths  of  these  elaborated 
forms  and  ceremonial,  it  must  give  to  them  a  new 
type  of  our  faith.  It  must  bring  all  these  outward 
forms  and  silly  ecclesiastical  claims  into  subjection 
to  its  underlying  life.  Men  must  be  taught  every- 
where that  Christianity,  in  order  to  be  a  success, 
must  mean  character  and  a  true  edification  of  the 
soul  in  spiritual  life. 

In  India,  where  Christianity  has  had  a  home  for 
sixteen  centuries,  it  was  largely  the  aim  of  its  mis- 
sionary promoters,  until  a  century  ago,  to  impress 
the  people  with  its  splendid  outward  forms  and  its 
grand  ecclesiastical  pomp  and  pretension.  Hence, 
our  faith  has  achieved  comparatively  little  real  suc- 
cess there.  When  it  comes  to  religious  forms  and 
ecclesiastical  powers  the  ancestral  faith  of  India  can 
impress  its  followers  more  mightily,  and  bring  to 
them  more  of  awe  and  reverence  than  can  Christian- 
ity in  its  wildest  assumptions. 

From  the  time  of  the  Protestant  invasion  in  the 


The  New  Methods  137 

East,  and  especially  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  Protes- 
tant missionary  advance,  a  century  ago,  India  has 
learned,  in  a  way  such  as  to  impress  it  adequately, 
that  the  religion  of  Jesus  is  a  much  simpler  thing, 
because  it  is  a  much  profounder  thing,  than  the  early 
exponents  of  our  faith  presented  it.  It  is  a  thing  of 
deepest  life.  It  aims  to  cleanse  the  heart  from  all 
sin  and  to  build  up  character  to  its  utmost  strength 
in  Christ  Jesus.  It  means  an  indwelling  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  which  brings  spiritual  transformation  and 
beauty  of  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  It  is  only  in 
this  way  that  Christianity  has  already  achieved  its 
best  work  and  contributed  its  permanent  blessings  to 
all  the  peoples  of  the  Far  East ;  and  it  is  through 
this  newly  developed  power  of  our  faith  in  those 
lands  that  it  is  to  have  in  Asia  its  ultimate  and  speedy 
triumph. 

In  like  manner,  no  political  ambition  or  power 
should  be  sought  in  connection  with  the  propagation 
of  our  faith  in  non-Christian  lands.  The  old  idea  of 
Church  and  State  permeated  the  thoughts  of  the 
early  missionaries,  as  it  now  does  those  of  some  con- 
tinental missionaries,  and  has  vitiated  largely  their 
conception  of  Christianity,  as  a  thing  of  moral  and 
of  spiritual  power. 

The  early  history  of  Christianity  in  China  and  Ja- 
pan is  significant  in  the  opposition  which  it  created 
and  in  the  persecution  which  it  induced  ;  the  major 
part  of  which  was  the  result  of  political  intrigue  and 
ambition  on  the  part  of  foreign  priests  and  prelates. 
Even  a  little  more  than  half  a  century  ago  the  Chris- 


138        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

tian  invasion  was  identified  by  the  government  and 
people  of  Japan  with  sinister  ambitions  on  the  part 
of  missionaries  to  overthrow  the  powers  that  be  and 
to  organize  a  foreign  State  upon  its  ruins.  Even  at 
the  present  time  non-Protestant  missionaries  in 
China  are  charged  with  causing  much  trouble  to  the 
government  by  demanding  a  political  status  and  by 
seeking  rights  and  privileges  for  their  Christians  be- 
yond any  possessed  by  the  common  people.  One 
cannot  too  severely  deplore  such  a  method  of  seek- 
ing to  propagate  our  faith  in  Eastern  lands.  The 
advance  and  permanent  strength  of  the  Christian 
cause  in  non-Christian  countries  will  depend  largely 
upon  the  degi;ee  of  its  separation  from  all  assump- 
tions and  influences  that  are  extraneous  to  its  true 
nature  and  upon  the  growing  emphasis  given  to  its 
moral  excellence  and  spiritual  supremacy  in  the 
world. 

V 

Love  must  be  exalted  as  a  supreme  missionary 
motive  of  our  faith.  The  key  word  of  our  Bible  is 
that  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  etc."  (John  iii.  16). 
Divine  love  is  the  foundation  of  Christianity.  This 
love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  brought  salvation  to  men. 
And  it  is  love  in  the  souls  of  men  which  must  bring 
them  to  realize  and  to  enjoy  this  salvation. 

Fear  has,  indeed,  its  place,  as  an  inferior  motive, 
even  in  Christianity.  Our  Lord  Himself  appealed  to 
men  more  than  once,  through  the  motive  of  fear. 
Many  Christians  in  all  ages  have  lived  upon  the 


The  New  Methods  139 

lower  ranges  of  spiritual  life,  and  have  been  slaves 
to  the  terrors  of  the  Law  and  to  the  fear  of  future 
torment. 

But  love  is  the  supreme  test  of  our  faith,  as  it  is  its 
highest  impulse.  In  this,  Christianity  is  unique ; 
hereby  it  is  differentiated  from  all  other  religions. 
Ethnic  faiths  are  begotten  of  fear  and  are  sustained 
and  perpetuated  by  its  tyranny.  This  is  their  almost 
exclusive  motive.  In  Christianity  alone  '*  love  cast- 
eth  out  fear"  ;  and  thus  drives  out  all  abjectness  of 
spirit  and  adds  dignity  and  sweetness  to  the  human 
life. 

it  is  not  only  in  religion,  but  in  domestic,  social, 
and  industrial  life  that  Orientals  are  driven  to  ac- 
tion by  the  mean  compulsion  of  this  lower  motive. 
Love,  therefore,  is  for  them  a  very  difficult  thing 
to  appreciate.  And  the  missionary  will  find  that 
it  appeals  little,  at  first,  to  the  life  of  men  in  the 
Far  East.  They  are  reached  more  easily  by  the 
lower  motive.  They  prefer  the  ethics  and  the  life 
basis  of  the  Old  Testament,  with  its  thundering 
and  terrors  of  the  Law,  to  the  New  Testament  with 
its  whisperings  of  love.  They  associate  love,  too 
generally,  with  maudlin  weakness.  God  becomes  a 
grandfatherly  type  who  easily  forgives  and  excuses 
all  the  faults  of  men.  It  takes  time  for  them  to  ad- 
just their  minds  to  the  new  vision  of  the  Christian 
God,  and  His  regime  of  love,  as  the  mighty  moving 
impulse  of  His  people  in  all  their  relationship  to 
Him.  They  must  be  slowly  nurtured  in  the  truth 
that  the  love  of  God  represents  strength  as  well  as 


140        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

tenderness,  and  that  he  who  would  worship  Him  in 
spirit  and  in  truth  must  worship  Him  in  the  beauty 
of  holiness  and  of  tender  loving  appreciation.  But 
these  people  can  respond  to,  and  ultimately  enter 
into  the  largest  appreciation  of,  this  characteristic 
of  our  religion.  *'  When  the  heathen  hear  an  earnest 
preacher  speaking  about  love  they  are  astonished  ; 
they  are  also  astonished  when  they  hear  of  the  love 
of  God  to  men,  that  He  even  sent  His  Son  to  death 
that  they  might  live.  But,  for  the  most  part,  they 
are  only  astonished  ;  their  narrow  minds  cannot, 
at  once,  take  in  the  great  message.  Only  at  a  later 
period,  when  Christianity  has  taken  a  deeper  hold 
upon  their  h^art,  do  they  more  and  more  under- 
stand the  love  of  God  which  was  made  manifest  in 
Jesus.  If  you  tell  a  Papuan,  *  Jesus  died  for  you  on 
the  cross.'  he  will  make  a  face  as  if  he  would  say, 
*  Then  Jesus  was  a  very  stupid  man.'  The  heathen 
Battak  finds  it  very  natural  to  say,  '  God  is  good.' 
It  is  constantly  said,  'God  is  gracious.'  God  is 
represented  as  an  old  and  weak  grandfather,  who 
always  excuses  the  faults  of  his  grandchildren. 
When  they  are  told  of  God's  love  they  think, — '  We 
knew  that  long  ago.'  They  have  no  idea  of  the 
tremendous  difference  between  the  love  of  God  and 
that  weak  laisser  faire  laisser  aller  of  their  own 
god."  ' 

But,  I  repeat,  these  people  can  be  brought  to  feel 
the  mighty  impulse  of  that  love  moving  their  hearts. 
Christ  Himself  said,  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will 

1  Warneck's  "  The  Living  Christ  and  Dying  Heathenism,"  p.  252. 


The  New  Methods  141 

draw  all  men  unto  Me."  The  attractive,  impelling 
influence  of  that  love  is  to  be  encouraged  every- 
where and  to  be  inculcated  as  the  dominant  motive 
of  Christian  life  in  all  lands. 

An  old  priest  of  heathenism,  as  he  was  being 
prepared  for  baptism,  heard  of  Jesus  the  Redeemer 
and  exclaimed  with  tears, — **  That  is  a  religion  that 
is  sweet  and  comforts  the  heart.  I  know  many  gods 
and  have  sacrificed  to  many,  but  I  never  heard  any- 
thing like  that,  that  God  sent  His  Son  to  be  the  re- 
deemer of  sinful  men.  We  are  afraid  of  our  gods, 
but  the  true  God  loves  us."  In  India,  the  common 
people,  in  describing  their  affection  for  a  certain 
individual,  usually  express  it  by  saying,  **  O  I  how 
much  he  loved  me."  This  is  universal.  The  human 
love  of  the  Christian  to  Christ  as  a  motive  in  his 
life  is  best  expressed  in  the  terms  of  Christ's  love  to 
him.  "  The  father  of  a  well-known  African  hunter 
said  to  the  missionary  Ebner, — *  Our  hearts  are  by 
nature  as  hard,  inflexible  and  black  as  iron,  and 
must  be  hammered  like  iron  before  they  can  be 
soft,  clear  and  flexible.  The  Lord  Jesus  is  the 
smith,  His  love  the  fire,  and  you  are  the  bellows  I " 

VI 

It  is  necessary  also  that  the  missionary  emphasize, 
in  his  commendation  of  our  faith,  the  argument  from 
experience.  In  the  West,  in  up-to-date  books  on 
Christian  Evidences,  the  argument  from  experience 
is  largely  ignored.  In  preparing  a  book  on  that 
subject  in  India,  I  found  it  difficult  to  find  aid  from 


142         The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Western  writers  upon  this  subject.  It  is  possible 
that,  in  modern  life  in  the  West,  this  argument  has 
lost  some  of  its  validity  and  power.  I  beg  to  ques- 
tion this,  however.  But  I  am  persuaded  that  in 
mission  lands  this  argument  needs  prominence  and 
growing  emphasis.  The  non-Christian  is  generally 
fortified  in  his  faith  by  not  a  few  experiences  which 
he  verily  believes  are  conclusive  proofs  -of  the 
divinity  of  his  ancestral  religion.  A  man  sold  to 
me  his  household  god  (a  small  idol)  because  it  had 
not  prospered  him  in  the  past.  Another  whipped 
his  god  for  inattention  to  their  domestic  needs. 
Hundreds  of  men  annually  roll  in  the  dust  a  mile 
and  a  half  around  a  rock  near  my  Indian  home. 
They  thus  pay  their  vows  after  receiving  some  great 
and  tangible  blessing  from  the  temple  god.  I  have 
seen  man  and  wife  immovably  attached  to  their 
faith  because,  after  years  of  barrenness,  the  wife  had 
been  delivered  of  a  son,  in  answer  (so  they  thought) 
to  their  prayer  to  the  family  god.  Since  then  they 
have  worshipped  the  family  idol  with  a  new  ardour. 
It  was  impossible  to  convince  them  that  the  tribal 
deity  could  not  really  hear  and  answer  their  prayer. 
I  have  known  men  to  have  been  cured  of  long  con- 
tinued disease,  and  they  were  convinced  that  it  was 
in  response  to  a  new  compact  made  by  them  with 
the  tribal  god.  They  considered  it  a  part  of  their 
religious  experience,  clearly  confirming  their  faith 
in  their  family  god  and  furnishing  an  anchorage  to 
that  faith  which  hardly  anything  can  remove.  It  is 
of  little  use  to  argue  with  a  man  who  has  received 


The  New  Methods  143 

such  definite  blessings  in  response,  as  he  beheves,  to 
his  prayers  and  to  the  new  vow  which  he  has  made 
to  worship  his  god.  All  oriental  ■  faiths  are  largely 
the  product  of  experiences  which  are  supposed  to 
connect  the  people  with  their  deities  in  some  way  or 
other.  A  faith  which  is  to  triumph  over  these  re- 
ligions must  be  rich  in  religious  experiences  of  its 
own— experiences  which  carry  their  evidential  value 
with  them  and  clearly  reveal  the  divinity  of  the  re- 
ligion and  the  union  of  the  soul  with  God  of  infinite 
power.  In  trying  to  bring  souls  out  of  these  re-  "" 
ligions  into  Christianity  the  Christian  must  be  pre- 
pared to  meet  experience  with  experience,  and  to 
reveal  clearly  the  reality  and  the  excellence  of  his 
own  as  contrasted  with  the  spuriousness  and  the 
lower  character  of  those  of  ethnic  religions.  And 
this  will  be  by  no  means  an  easy  task.  I  have 
rarely  been  able  to  convince  any  man  of  the  false- 
ness of  his  religion  when  he  has  been  fortified  by 
some  such  experience  in  his  life. 

The  great  argument  from  experience,  which  these^' 
lands  need  to-day,  is  the  argument  of  a  noble  Chris-  ) 
tian  life  which  is  in  close  communion  with  God,  is  j 
transformed  by  His  presence,  Und  is  beautified  by  / 
the  indwelling  Spirit.     All  these  non-Christian  lands 
could  be  speedily  brought  to  Christ  if  all  the  Christian 
people    that    now   lived   there,    comparatively   few 
though  they  be,  revealed  daily  the  living  power  of  the 
Gospel  in  their  own  lives  through  a  character  that  was 
unmistakably  Christian,  and  through  graces  of  life, 
which  could  find  their  origin  only  in  Christ  Jesus. 


144        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

Our  cause  has  suffered  in  those  lands  because  of  the 
unchristian  life  of  many  who  had  confessed  Christ. 
An  open  confession,  without  a  living  testimony  in 
grace  and  character  corresponding  to  it,  will  blight 
our  cause  and  deter  the  non-Christian  world  from 
accepting  Christ.  We  need  more  of  this  **  Fifth 
Gospel "  in  heathen  lands,  a  clear  testimony  to  the 
living  Christ  in  the  convert's  life,  and  to  the  power 
of  the  Gospel,  as  a  gift  of  God,  to  save,  unto  the 
uttermost,  the  benighted  heathen  of  Africa  and  Asia. 
This  we  are  permitted  to  witness  increasingly,  thank 
God,  in  those  lands. 

VII 

In  non-Christian  countries  it  is  necessary  to  dis- 
criminate between  sins,  heathenish  errors  and  debas- 
ing customs,  on  the  one  hand,  and  long  established 
customs  which  are  harmless  and  non-religious  on  the 
other.  The  one  must  be  antagonized  and  destroyed, 
the  other  must  be  spared  and  defended.  Much 
confusion  has  been  revealed  in  the  past  in  the 
attitude  of  mind  shown  by  missionaries  in  the  pres- 
ence of  these  two  different  things.  There  are  many 
things  connected  with  these  oriental  countries  which 
are  entirely  harmless  in  themselves,  but  which  a  young 
missionary,  specially,  is  apt  to  consider  baneful  be- 
cause they  are  strange  to  him.  He  thinks  that  they 
all  belong  to  heathenism  which  must  be  rooted  out 
from  among  the  people.  I  have  seen  the  vegetarian 
diet  of  South  India — a  diet  so  well  adapted  to  that 
climate — regarded  as,  in  itself,  a  piece  of  downright 


The  New  Methods 


H5 


heathenism,  because  it  was  religiously  maintained 
by  a  sect  of  Hindus.  This  is  just  as  unreasonable 
as  the  conviction  of  millions  of  Hindus  who  have 
believed,  and  still  believe,  that  Christianity  enjoins 
upon  its  followers  beef-eating  and  wine-drinking  as 
an  essential  part  of  its  discipline.  Hosts  in  that 
country  have  been  kept  away  from  Christianity 
because  they  were  taught  to  believe  that  every 
Christian  must  eat  beef,  which  is  the  worst  abomina- 
tion to  every  Hindu.  In  like  manner,  there  are 
missionaries  who  believe  that  the  pigtail  of  the 
Chinaman  and  the  top-knot  of  the  Hindu  are  abso- 
lutely inconsistent  with  a  confession  of  our  faith. 
Some  missionaries  in  India,  believing  that  the  top- 
knot is  a  remnant  of  heathenism,  carry  scissors  with 
them  through  the  villages,  in  order  to  clip  off  the 
hirsute  appendage,  before  they  baptize  its  owner  I 
Even  though  these  things  may  have  had  a  religious 
significance,  in  the  past,  to  these  people  in  the  East, 
most  of  them  have  ceased  to  be  anything  more 
than  social  customs,  which  are  perfectly  innocuous 
in  themselves.  It  would  be  interesting  to  find  out 
how  many  of  our  modern  customs  have  had  their 
origin  in  heathenish  practices  in  the  far  off  past.  Of 
course,  when  it  comes  to  the  definite  transfer  of  dis- 
tinct and  unmistakable  heathenism  and  superstition 
into  the  Christian  Church  it  must  be  withstood  ;  and 
the  Church  must  be  purified,  so  far  as  possible,  from 
these  evils.  But  I  insist  upon  it  that  discrimination 
should  always  be  exercised  in  this  matter ;  and  the 
highest  interests  of  the  Church  should  be  conserved 


146        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

with  as  little  disturbance  to  the  life  of  the  people  as 
possible. 

One  of  the  most  frequent  complaints  heard  in  the 
East,  to-day,  is,  that  native  converts  are  being 
denationalized  ;  that  they  are  leaving  their  old,  an- 
cestral and  national  customs,  and  are  aping  the 
West,  separating  themselves  from  their  own  people 
and  becoming  strangers  to  their  own  community. 
They  thus  not  only  appear  ridiculous,  but  they 
largely  cease  to  influence  their  own  people  and  lose 
the  opportunity  to  lead  them  into  the  new  found 
faith. 

There  are  instances  about  which  it  is  difficult  to 
decide.  In  Jb.pan,  at  the  present  time,  it  is  a  univer- 
sal custom  to  observe,  annually,  a  day  for  the  worship 
of  the  emperor.  Institutions  of  learning  perform 
annually  this  ceremony  which  is  certainly  akin  to,  if 
it  does  not  really  partake  of,  the  character  of  idolatry. 
A  large  majority  of  the  missionaries  in  Japan  ap- 
prove of  Japanese  Christians  joining  others  in  doing 
this  homage  to  the  emperor.  It  is  not  by  them 
regarded  as  a  definite  act  of  worship.  Yet  it  is 
practically  the  same  thing  as  was  found  in  the 
Roman  empire  in  the  apostolic  days ;  and  because 
many  Christians  then  declined  to  yield  to  it  they 
suffered  cruel  death.  It  is  a  serious  question 
whether  the  Christian  community  would  not 
achieve  more  for  their  cause  in  Japan  by  taking  a 
definite  stand  against  this  custom  and  requesting 
the  government  to  grant  them  freedom  from  its  re- 
straints. 


The  New  Methods  147 

VIII 

Missionary  leaders  should  also  study  how  best  to 
adapt  their  outer  life  so  that,  as  far  as  possible,  they 
may  harmonize  with  the  conditions  of  the  country 
in  which  they  work,  and  thus  commend  themselves 
and  their  message  to  the  people.  The  distance 
between  the  man  of  the  West  and  the  man  of  the 
East  is,  under  the  most  favourable  circumstances,  a 
serious  hindrance  to  his  work.  The  missionary  of 
the  West  rarely  feels  at  home  among  the  people  of 
non-Christian  countries ;  the  customs  and  habits  of 
life  in  those  lands  are  so  far  removed  from  his  own. 
In  China  and  in  Manchuria  many  missionaries  adopt 
the  clothing,  and  follow  not  a  few  of  the  customs, 
of  the  people,  with  advantage  to  themselves  and  their 
work.  In  Japan  this  is  generally  unnecessary,  as 
European  customs,  especially  clothing,  in  themselves 
often  create  a  prestige  there.  The  Japanese  have 
themselves  taken  favourably  to  European  costume. 

In  India,  which  is  a  tropical  country,  it  is  far  less 
easy  for  the  man  of  the  West  to  adapt  himself  to  the 
outer  conditions  of  native  life.  Habits  of  life  there 
are  not  only  very  different  from  those  of  his  own  coun- 
try, climatic  conditions  also  make  it  almost  impos- 
sible for  him  to  wear  the  clothing  of  that  people. 
Moreover  the  White  man  has  a  prestige  in  India 
which  he  would  largely  lose  among  the  people,  if  he 
would  not  make  himself  ridiculous  in  their  eyes, 
were  he  to  adopt  their  costume  and  ape  their  life. 
This  is  partly  because  the  government  is  that  of  the 
White  man. 


148        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Nevertheless,  the  question  has  often  been  raised, 
whether,  through  sympathy  with  and  imitation  of, 
the  common  concerns  of  life  much  could  not  be  done 
by  the  Westerner  to  commend  his  faith  to  that  peo- 
ple. Some  have  thrown  themselves,  with  an 
abandon,  into  oriental  customs  and  outward  life, 
and  have  not  been  successful  enough  to  encourage 
others  to  follow  them.  Abbe  DuBois  completely 
Hinduized  his  life ;  and  at  the  end  of  his  arduous 
career,  declared  that  it  had  been  practically  a  failure. 
Robert  de  Nobili  did  the  same  in  Madura  for  many 
years.  He  even  posed  as  a  "  Western  Brahman " 
and  lived  with  apparent  duplicity  the  life  of  the 
Jesuit  that  he  was.  But  that  Brahmanical  pose  and 
process  availed  him  little  in  the  ultimate  success  of 
his  work. 

Not  a  few  Protestant  missionaries,  in  their  eager 
desire  to  come  into  close  touch  with  the  people  that 
they  might  save  them,  have  adopted  the  outward 
habits  of  Hindu  life,  even  to  the  common  Hindu 
diet,  only  to  find  later  their  mistake,  and  to  return 
largely  to  their  own  customs. 

In  the  presentation  of  our  faith  in  the  East,  it  has 
been  found  that  it  is  not  the  adoption  of  the  ordinary 
life  customs  of  the  people,  but  rather  the  spirit  of 
the  Christ,  revealed  in  loving  sympathy  and  kindly 
appreciation,  that  wins  souls  for  the  cause  of  Christ. 

The  ascetic  religious  ideal  dominates  the  mind  of 
India.  No  religious  leader  there  can  commend  him- 
self with  perfection  to  that  people  without  living  the 
austere   life   of   self-mortification.      Never  has  that 


The  New  Methods  149 

form  of  life  been  lived  with  more  austerity  and 
physical  restraint  than  in  India.  Any  one  who 
desires  highly  to  commend  hiniself,  through  that 
type  of  life,  which  is  distinctly  Hindu,  must  enter 
into  it  with  a  great  deal  more  of  self-denial  and  self- 
restraint  and  self-infliction  than  anything  ever  known 
in  the  West.  At  the  present  time  an  American  mis- 
sionary (Mr.  Stokes)  in  North  India  is  thus  attempt- 
ing to  live  the  life  of  the  holy  ascetic  or  religious 
mendicant  with  the  purpose  of  commending  his 
faith  and  of  bringing  souls  to  Christ.  He  believes 
that  it  is  a  method  which  will  not  only  commend  it- 
self to  the  people,  but  will  also  reveal  that  aspect  of 
our  religion  which  must  ultimately  become  the  type 
of  our  faith  in  that  land,  when  Christianity  shall 
have  become  indigenous  there.  He  has  taken  up 
this  life  seriously,  and  our  sympathy  goes  out  to 
him  in  this  attempt  to  commend  our  faith  to  the 
people  on  distinctly  oriental  lines  and  with  an  oriental 
bias  and  emphasis.  Though  one  doubts  the  wisdom 
of  this  noble  effort,  I  confess  that  I  would  be  de- 
lighted to  see  it  succeed,  and  that  Mr.  Stokes  could 
thus  prove  that  it  is  possible  for  some  Western 
Christian  men,  especially  those  of  an  iron  constitu- 
tion, to  undertake  and  make  successful  this  form  of 
Christian  life  and  activity  in  that  land.  I  believe 
that  among  Westerners  a  few  only  can  possibly  take 
up  such  a  work  and  bring  it  to  a  successful  issue. 
May  Mr.  Stokes  be  enabled  to  reveal  its  possibilities. 
I  believe,  however,  that  what  India  needs  pre- 
eminently is   to   see  more  of  its  Indian  Christian 


150        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

workers  adopt  this  method  of  Hfe  for  service,  and 
show,  by  example,  that  Christianity  can  thus  become 
not  only  indigenous  but  effective  in  attaining  the 
ancient  and  persistent  ideal  of  that  country.  For 
this  reason  I  am  very  glad  to  know  that  some 
Indian  brethren  have  already  joined  Mr.  Stokes  in 
this  new  type  of  Indian  Christian  life  and  work. 

Thus  the  great  object  of  the  missionary  must  be 
to  study  how  in  every  way  to  cultivate  methods  of 
approach  to  the  people  whom  he  is  serving,  so  that 
the  Gospel  may  find  speedy  acceptance  and  so  that 
the  Church  of  God  may  flourish  and  send  its  roots 
deep  down  into  the  life  of  the  people.  It  is  ours  not 
only  to  carry*  the  living  message  of  a  saving  Gospel 
to  every  people,  but  also  to  carry  that  message  in  the 
way  best  calculated  to  commend  it  unto  all  nations 
of  the  earth. 


V 

The  New  Ideals  Which  it  Exalts 

THE  ultimate  aim  of  missions  should  be  to 
make  themselves  unnecessary.  That  mis- 
sion is  most  successful  which  most  speedily 
achieves  its  purpose  and  is  able  to  disband.  This 
end  is  to  be  attained  not  merely  by  scattering  the 
seed  of  truth  in  every  town  and  hamlet  of  a  country, 
or  by  leavening  society  with  the  spiritual  assimilat- 
ing forces  of  the  Kingdom  of  God ;  the  missionary 
enterprise  must  eventuate  in  an  organized  form  of 
Christian  life  and  activity — in  a  healthy,  prosperous 
Church  into  whose  hand  the  interests  of  men's  souls 
and  the  permanent  prosperity  of  Christianity  can  be 
entrusted.  One  of  the  pet  dangers  of  every  mission 
in  heathen  lands  is  that  of  keeping  the  people  whom 
they  have  brought  into  the  Kingdom  as  their  per- 
petual wards.  They  postpone  too  long  the  duty  of 
graduating  them  into  independence.  It  is  pleasant 
to  hold  on  to  influence  and  authority.  It  is  sweet 
to  administer  the  affairs  of  others.  It  is  delightful  to 
continue  in  the  capacity  of  almoners  of  the  benevo- 
lence of  the  home  Church.  It  is  difficult  to  relin- 
quish leadership  and  control. 

Yet  all  of  this  must  be  exalted  as  a  part  of  the 
programme  of  the  Church  for  its  missions.  With 
increasing  clearness   of  vision,  and  resoluteness  of 

151 


152        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

purpose,  it  must  hold  aloft  certain  definite  ideals 
for  the  infant  mission  Church  which  it  is  nourishing 
into  life  and  power. 

In  order  that  the  mission  Church  may  abide  and 
develop,  it  must  possess  four  characteristics.  In  all 
non-Christian  countries  these  are  sought  in  many 
ways,  but  with  one  deep  conviction  of  their  absolute 
necessity  for  the  prosperity  and  permanence  of  all 
the  Churches  established  in  those  lands. 

I.  A  Self-Supporting  Church 
The  Pauline  method  made  this  the  chief  corner- 
stone of  the  missionary  enterprise.  St.  Paul,  wher- 
ever he  estat^lished  a  church,  not  only  left  it  to  stand 
upon  its  own  financial  basis,  but  also  induced  it  to 
send  its  charitable  contributions  to  the  mother 
Church  in  Jerusalem.  The  new-found  Christian  life 
can  best  be  fostered  by  the  practice  of  self-support. 

The  question  has  often  been  raised  whether  native 
churches  should  be,  from  the  first,  self-supporting ; 
or  shall  they  be  aided  by  Western  financial  re- 
sources. The  methods  illustrated  in  many  of  our 
foreign  missions — especially  the  older  ones — is  that 
of  rendering  aid  to  weak  mission  churches  and  con- 
gregations. Missionaries  are  not  insensible  to  the 
fact  that  this  method  has  not  apostolic  sanction  and 
antecedent,  and  is  in  many  ways  liable  to  danger 
and  abuse.  One  may  doubt  seriously  whether  the 
great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  would  approve  of  the 
modern  way — a  way  which  signally  runs  counter  to 
his    own    method.     All    applaud  his   method   and 


The  New  Ideals  153 

admire  his  wisdom  and  courage  in  placing  the 
churches,  which  he  established,  definitely  upon  their 
own  financial  responsibility. 

Yet,  there  are  reasons  why  this  method  has  not 
been  generally  pursued  in  modern  times.  The 
extreme  poverty  and  the  abject  condition  of  the 
converts  reached  and  Christianized  by  modern 
missions  in  most  lands,  have  strongly  appealed  to 
the  charitable  insdncts  of  the  missionary  and  the 
home  Church  alike.  It  has  been  a  gospel  of  com- 
passion upon  them  in  their  pecuniary,  as  in  their 
spiritual,  helplessness. 

In  this  respect  it  has  furnished  to  the  missionary 
not  only  a  gracious  opportunity,  but  also  a  subtle 
temptation,  to  which  he  has  doubtless  yielded  many 
times — that  of  leaning  upon  the  strong,  if  not  abun- 
dant, resources  of  the  home  Church  rather  than 
performing  the  more  wholesome  but  more  difficult 
task  of  encouraging  and  cultivating  the  independ- 
ence, self-reliance  and  self-denial  of  the  infant  native 
Church. 

There  is  another  strong  excuse,  if  not  adequate 
reason,  for  rendering  financial  aid  to  mission 
churches.  **  The  King's  business  requires  haste  ; " 
we  are  impatient  of  results.  The  West,  perhaps, 
attributes  more  efficacy  than  it  should  to  money. 
At  any  rate,  missionary  societies  have  a  conviction 
that  by  a  careful  use  of  the  financial  resources  of  the 
Western  Church  they  may  so  expedite  the  scheme 
of  spiritual  conquest  in  Eastern  lands  as  to  warrant 
them  in  postponing,  for  a  while,  the  problem  of  self- 


154        ^^^  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

support.  The  urgency  of  the  great  enterprise  in 
Asia  and  in  Africa  demands  a  large  and  growing 
expenditure  of  money,  with  a  view  to  improving  the 
present  remarkable  opportunities  whose  wide  open 
doors  may  soon  be  closed  to  the  Christian  Church. 
For  example,  those  who  best  know  the  situation  in 
China,  at  the  present  time,  declare  that  unprece- 
dented opportunities  urgently  invite  the  missiona- 
ries— doors  of  access  to,  and  influence  upon  the 
people — which  will  probably  be  closed  a  few  years 
hence,  but  which,  if  entered  to-day,  will  lead,  in  a 
marvellous  way,  to  the  speedy  coming  of  the  King- 
dom of  Christ  in  China.  It  would  be  folly  in  the 
Church  not  to  improve  this  situation  and  give  heed 
to  this  Providence  in  its  work  in  that  empire. 

Nevertheless,  great  wisdom  and  self-restraint  are 
demanded  of  the  missionary  in  this  matter,  lest  he 
pauperize  the  people  by  foreign  aid,  and  rob  them 
of  that  very  manhood  and  Christian  independence 
which  he  cherishes  above  all  treasures  and  which 
he  longs  to  impart  to  them  among  his  chiefest  bless- 
ings. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  the  more  recently 
organized  missions  give  full  emphasis  to  this  matter 
of  self-support.  The  record  of  the  Uganda  Mission, 
in  Africa,  is  specially  inspiring  in  this  particular. 
As  a  part  of  the  record  of  its  marvellous  develop- 
ment we  are  informed  that  all  of  the  native  work  in 
that  country  is  supported  by  native  Christians. 
From  the  first  they  assumed  the  whole  financial 
burden  of  the  developing  church. 


The  New  Ideals  155 

In  like  manner  the  infant  Church  in  Korea  is 
bravely  bearing  its  own  burden.  Of  it  Dr.  George 
Heber  Jones  writes  :  "  From  the  earliest  years  of  the 
mission,  the  Koreans  have  been  taught  that  the 
final  and  complete  evangelization  of  their  people 
rests  with  them,  and  that  the  purpose  of  the  foreign 
missionary  is  to  inaugurate  the  work  and  then 
cooperate  with  Korean  Christians  in  extending  it. 
This  position  has  been  accepted  by  the  Korean 
Christians,  and  the  Korean  type  is  that  of  a  man 
who  places  all  his  possessions  in  the  hands  of  the 
Lord  for  His  work.  A  happy  illustration  of  this 
occurred  in  our  work  in  the  north  district.  Dr. 
W.  Arthur  Noble  led  to  Christ  a  sturdy  specimen  of 
the  northern  Korean.  He  was  the  first  convert  in 
his  village,  and  his  house  was  the  first  meeting- 
place.  After  a  while  the  village  church  grew  too 
large  for  its  quarters  and  put  up  a  chapel  of  its  own. 
Then  there  was  a  debt  which  had  to  be  paid.  There 
was  no  money  with  which  to  pay  it,  as  the  little 
group  had  exhausted  their  resources.  This  leader, 
however,  had  one  thing  he  could  sell — his  ox  with 
which  he  did  his  plowing.  One  day  he  led  it  off  to 
the .  market-place,  sold  it,  and '  paid  the  debt  on  the 
church.  The  next  spring,  when  the  missionary 
visited  this  village  he  inquired  for  the  leader  and 
was  told  he  was  out  in  the  field  plowing.  He 
walked  down  the  road  to  the  field,  and  this  is  what 
he  saw  :  holding  the  handles  of  the  plow  was  the 
old,  gray-haired  father  of  the  family,  and  hitched  in 
the  traces,  where  the  ox  should  have  been,  were  this 


If 


156        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

Korean  Christian  and  his  brother,  dragging  his 
plow  through  the  fields  that  year  themselves."  ^ 

Perhaps  no  people  have  revealed  such  a  passion 
for  self-support  as  the  Karens  of  Burma  who,  only 
a  little  more  than  half  a  century  ago,  were  wild 
barbarians  living  on  the  mountains  of  that  country, 
but  who,  to-day,  take  special  pride  in  their  financial 
independence  and  are,  practically,  supporting  their 
whole  church  work. 

All  are  familiar  with  the  independence  which  in- 
creasingly dominates  the  Japanese.  Of  this.  Dr. 
DeForest  writes, — **  A  most  significant  fact  and  one 
that  serves  to  illustrate  the  healthy  and  vigorous 
growth  of  the  Christians  is  that  there  are  two  wholly 
independent  mission  boards  of  the  Congregational 
and  Presbyterian  Churches,  which  raise  about  12,000 
yen  a  year  and  support  their  own  missionaries,  some 
fifteen,  at  present.  Self-support  is  a  burning  ques- 
tion in  all  mission  fields,  and  one  cannot  understand 
the  work  without  knowing  something  of  its  practical 
workings. 

"  I  know  of  two  evangelists  who  deliberately  cut 
themselves  off  from  foreign  money,  well  knowing 
that  their  little  bands  could  not  possibly  give  them 
sufficient  support.  They  preferred  to  suffer  extreme 
poverty  in  order  to  plant  the  spirit  of  self-support 
and  self-respect  deep  in  the  hearts  of  their  followers ; 
and  their  heroic  determination  cost  them  their 
lives."  2 

1  Gale's  "  Korea  in  Transition,"  p.  198. 

*  "  Sunrise  in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom,"  p.  116. 


The  New  Ideals  157 

It  should  be  remembered  also  that  the  older  mis- 
sions, established  in  such  lands  as  India,  are  grad- 
ually solving  this  problem  by  increasingly  training 
the  churches  to  assume  their  own  support ;  and  it  is 
most  encouraging  to  see  how  readily  they  respond 
to  this  call.  In  the  Madura  Mission,  to  which  I 
have  the  honour  to  belong,  and  in  other  missions  of 
that  land,  the  pastors  of  the  churches  are  supported 
by  their  churches.  The  Madura  Mission  has  also  a 
home  missionary  society,  which  not  only,  helps  the 
weak  churches  to  support  their  pastors,  but  also 
conducts  independent  work  of  its  own  within  the 
district.  Even  the  weakest  congregations  are  being 
led  to  realize  and  to  assume  increasingly  responsi- 
bility for  the  maintenance  of  the  cause. 

In  order  that  one  may  understand  how  the 
churches  of  missions  in  foreign  lands  are  realizing 
their  opportunity  and  responsibility  in  this  matter  it 
is  well  to  remember  that  in  non-Christian  lands 
alone  the  offerings  of  native  Christians  reached  the 
grand  total  of  $2,650,551  during  the  last  year. 
This  is  about  one-ninth,  or  eleven  per  cent.,  of  the 
total  amount  contributed  for  foreign  missions  by  all 
the  Protestant  Christian  Churches  of  the  world. 
And  the  larger  portion  of  these  home  contribu- 
tions, it  should  be  remembered,  go  to  pay  the 
salaries  of  the  missionaries  that  are  sent  into  these 
foreign  fields. 

When  the  deep  poverty  of  these  people  is  con- 
sidered, a  poverty  far  beyond  anything  that  we 
know  or  can  understand  in  this  country,  the  sum  is 


158        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

remarkably  large  and  brings  great  encouragement 
to  all  Christian  workers. 

The  native  Church  in  all  lands  is  developing 
rapidly,  both  in  its  ability  to  contribute,  and  in  its 
determination  to  do  the  manly  thing  in  supporting 
entirely  its  own  institutions.  And  I  believe  that  the 
time  is  not  far  hence  when  a  self-supporting  Chris- 
tian Church  will  be  found  in  all  mission  fields, 

II.  A  Self-Directing  Church 
When  a  church  has  attained  to  the  distinction  of 
being  self-supporting,  there  is  absolutely  no  reason 
why  it  should  not  also  possess  the  right,  and  enjoy 
the  distinction,  of  being  self-directing.  A  church 
is  not  in  a.  healthy  condition  which  is  always  follow- 
ing the  leading  strings  of  some  foreign  ecclesiastical 
body.  The  chief  bane  of  the  Syrian  Church  in 
India  has  been  its  willingness,  during  the  last  six- 
teen centuries,  to  be  under  the  control  and  doctrinal 
direction  of  an  ecclesiastical  body  in  a  far  off  land. 
It  has  failed  to  become  indigenous,  prosperous,  and 
possessed  of  power  and  of  an  outgoing  life  because 
it  has  never  been  willing  to  assume  control  of  its 
own  affairs.  It  is  still  a  "  Syrian  Church "  rather 
than-  an  Indian  Church. 

The  self-directing  power  of  the  native  Church 
must  be  achieved  on  two  lines — both  in  the  ways  of 
administering  its  own  affairs  and  of  formulating  its 
own  beliefs. 

In  the  first  place  it  must  be  trained  to  administer 
its  own  internal  affairs. 


The  New  Ideals  159 

Of  course,  self-administration  must  bear  some  pro- 
portion to  self-support.  A  church  which  will  not  as- 
sume increasingly  the  duty  of  maintaining  itself  finan- 
cially can  neither  possess  the  sanity  nor  the  self-re- 
straint required  to  wisely  direct  its  own  affairs.  Those 
who  contribute  the  money  towards  its  maintenance 
will  wisely  demand  more  or  less  influence  in  the  proper 
use  of  their  money.  The  duty  of  missionary  benev- 
olence involves  the  obligation  of  wisely  dispensing 
the  same  and  administering  the  work  supported 
by  it. 

Still,  the  native  Church  must  be  gradually  taught 
to  assume  the  power  of  administering  its  own  affairs. 

The  Japanese  Christians  have  taken  this  up  more 
rapidly  and  more  eagerly  than  the  Christians  of  any 
other  land.  This  is  natural,  because  the  Christians 
of  that  land  have,  in  the  main,  come  from  the  Samu- 
rai class — the  warriors  of  the  country — who  are  self- 
asserting  and  quick  to  demand  their  rights.  They 
have  revealed  great  impatience,  at  certain  times,  in 
view  of  the  leadership  of  the  missionaries  from  the 
West  and  have  made  it  somewhat  unpleasant  for 
them.  This  spirit  was  intensified  by  the  attitude  of 
the  government  also.  For  instance,  when  Neesima, 
with  American  money,  established  the  Dosisha,  the 
government  would  not  consent  to  have  any  foreign 
control  over  the  institution.  The  property  must,  in 
its  entirety,  be  legally  owned  by  Mr.  Neesima,  or 
some  other  Japanese.  Even  the  missionary  dwell- 
ings could  not  be  owned  by  missionaries  or  by  mis- 
sionary boards.     The  foreign  teachers  of  the  institu- 


l6o        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

tion  must  be  under  the  Japanese  principal  and  have 
their  salaries  paid  by  him.  At  that  time  it  was  the 
only  condition  of  missionary  work  in  the  land. 

This  independent  spirit  of  the  Japanese,  while  pro- 
ducing some  disagreeable  friction  for  the  time,  is  rec- 
ognized by  all  as  an  invaluable  asset  in  the  mission- 
ary enterprise.  So  long  as  they  reveal  qualities  of 
leadership  and,  especially,  as  they  are  manifesting 
the  spirit  of  self-support,  it  is  much  better  that  they 
should  assume  entirely  the  administrative  responsi- 
bility and  full  guidance  of  the  affairs  of  their  cause. 
It  were  well  if  the  native  Christians  of  all  lands  were 
as  capable  and  as  prepared  to  assume  this  leader- 
ship as  are  the  Japanese. 

In  India,  on  the  other  hand,  the  situation  is  very 
different.  Nine-tenths  of  the  whole  membership  of 
the  Indian  Church  have  been  taken  from  the  outcaste 
Hindu  community.  They  are  men  who,  for  many 
centuries,  have  been  crushed  by  the  bondage  and 
the  indignities  of  the  caste  system,  and  who  have  so- 
cially been  the  slaves  of  others,  without  right  of  ini- 
tiative and  devoid  of  the  first  claims  to  self-respect. 
It  is  impossible  to  give  to  such  a  community,  in  a 
brief  time,  the  adequate  equipment  of  sanity  and  of 
ambition  and  of  the  spirit  of  leadership  to  direct 
their  own  ecclesiastical  affairs.  It  has  been,  and  is, 
the  ambition  of  India,  as  it  has  been  their  genius,  to 
be  docile,  good  followers,  rather  than  leaders.  To 
India,  the  words  of  Dr.  Speer  apply  admirably. 
**  The  great  need  is  for  leadership,  not  primarily  mis- 
sionary leadership,  but  the  leadership  of  strong  native 


The  New  Ideals  161 

men  who,  knowing  their  own  people,  resting  upon 
them,  holding  them  fast,  will  accomplish  among 
them  that  of  which  the  missions  have  dreamed  and 
for  which  they  have  toiled."  ^ 

A  century  of  training,  however,  and  an  extended 
opportunity  for  education  have  resulted  in  a  marvel- 
lous advance  of  that  people.  And  as  their  new- 
found manhood  has  expanded,  new  increments  of  op- 
portunity, of  influence  and  of  power  in  self-direction 
have  been  conferred  upon  the  Indian  Church.  In 
South  India  this  is  more  marked  than  elsewhere,  be- 
cause there  are  now  living  the  second,  third,  and 
fourth  generations  of  Christians,  possessed  of  more 
culture,  dignity  and  power  of  initiative  than  the  new 
converts.  The  Anglican  Mission  in  Tinnevelly  has 
developed  an  admirable  scheme  of  responsibility  and 
of  self-government  for  the  Indian  Church  in  that  dis- 
trict. In  other  missions  also,  movements  have  taken 
place  on  similar  lines,  and  responsibility  is  being  dis- 
tributed, and  the  Indian  Church  is  rapidly  coming  to 
its  own. 

Missionaries  everywhere,  in  all  lands,  are  eagerly 
studying  the  situation  and  are  ^ambitious  to  bestow 
upon  their  native  brethren  as  much  opportunity  and 
power  as  they  are  qualified  to  exercise.  In  India,  at 
least,  there  is  at  the  present  time  as  much  danger  in 
hastening  overmuch  self-direction  on  the  part  of  the 
native  Church,  as  there  is  in  withholding  power  from 
it.  It  is  worse  than  useless  to  lift  the  responsibility 
from   the   missionary  body  and   place   it   upon  the 

* "  Christianity  and  the  Nations,"  p.  172. 


l62        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

native  Church  before  it  is  qualified  by  character  and 
a  broad  spirit  of  sympathy  and  of  sanity  to  under- 
take it.  Some  missions  have  certainly  suffered  by 
precipitating  this  duty  upon  the  people. 

Then  comes  the  matter  of  self-directing  thought 
in  the  native  Church.  The  beliefs  and  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  Church  of  the  East  must  be  the  prod- 
uct of  the  mind  of  the  East.  They  must  think  out 
their  own  problems  in  their  own  way.  This  is 
perhaps  the  most  difficult  thing  of  all,  the  thing 
which  we  can  least  expect  at  an  early  date,  from  a 
people  brought,  under  foreign  leadership,  out  of 
heathenism.  Yet  the  Church  of  God,  in  any  land, 
must  interpi^et  the  Christ  for  itself  and  must  think 
out  its  own  problems  of  religious  thought,  and  elabo- 
rate its  own  Christian  philosophy,  ere  it  can  be  called 
an  indigenous  Church.  An  Eastern  or  an  African 
Church,  using  the  shibboleths  of  the  West  and 
measuring  its  orthodoxy  by  Western  standards,  is 
not  a  Church  breathing  a  healthy  life,  or  possessed 
of  any  promise  of  potency,  for  the  future.  The 
Western  type  of  thought  dominates  the  Church  of 
the  East  to-day.  It  is  doubtless  necessary,  in  the 
first  stage  of  development ;  but  is  it  not  time  that 
some  release  be  found,  and  a  new  oriental  mental 
assertion  be  established  in  such  lands  as  India,  Japan, 
and  China,  where  so  much  thought  is  to  be  found 
to-day  ?  Those  lands  need,  in  the  Christian  Church, 
more  intellectual  independence,  more  aggressive 
thought.  Even  a  little  wholesome  heresy  would  be 
a    great    boon — anything    but    the    stagnation    of 


The  New  Ideals  163 

thought,  or  the   weak   childish  lisping  of  Western 
forms  and  dogmas. 

Personally  I  believe  that  the  Church  in  India,  for 
instance,  is  very  backward  in  this  particular.  I  have 
not  yet  met  an  Indian  Christian  gentleman  who  is 
not  too  willing  to  borrow  his  theology  and  to  adopt, 
with  complacency.  Western  dogmatic  forms,  which 
he  does  not  understand,  and  which  are  in  no  sense 
consonant  with  his  oriental  nature.  The  missionary 
Church  needs  badly  the  foundation  of  a  self- wrought 
system  of  thought  suited  to  express  and  to  increase 
its  living  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  Dr.  Data,  a  distin- 
guished Indian  Christian,  tells  us  that,  *'  The  Indian 
Church  has  failed,  on  the  whole,  to  produce  a  dis- 
tinctive theology  capable  of  reaching  the  hearts  and 
minds  of  the  people.  .  .  .  The  nearest  approach 
to  a  distinctive  interpretation  of  Christ  has  come 
from  a  non-Christian  sect,  the  Brahmo-Somaj.  The 
cause  is  not  far  to  seek.  Indian  Christianity  is  as 
yet  a  Western  product  in  the  process  of  being  grafted 
on  to  India.  The  children  of  converts  know  little  of, 
and  care  less  for,  the  whole  heritage  of  Indian 
thought  and  religion.  .  .  .  Up  to  the  present 
time  the  members  of  the  Church  have  been  drawn 
from  castes  which  do  not  afford  a  soil  in  which 
theological  ideas  naturally  spring  up  and  come  to 
harvest.  There  have  been  Christians,  like  K.  M. 
Bannerjee,  and  Nehemiah  Goreh,  but  the  converts 
from  the  castes  which  show  special  philosophical  apt- 
itude are  insufficient  to  form  an  intellectual  societyjn 
which  there  can  be  a  free  interchange  of  ideas.     New 


164        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

interpretations  of  Christian  doctrine  will  scarcely  be 
possible  until  the  intellectual  level  of  the  Indian 
Church  is  raised  either  by  greater  accessions  from 
the  Brahman  class,  or  by  an  extraordinary  develop- 
ment of  the  mind  of  the  outcaste  people  who  form 
the  bulk  of  the  Christian  community."  ^ 

It  were  well  if  the  best  trained  of  the  whole  Indian 
Christian  community  could  meet  at  some  time  with 
a  view  to  discussing  this  problem.  The  same  thing 
would  be  advantageous  to  other  Eastern  lands  also. 

III.  A  Self-Propagating  Church 
The  Christian  Church,  in  the  missionary  field, 
must  be  outreaching  and  missionary  in  its  spirit. 
This  is  an  idea  which  is  not  indigenous  to  the  East, 
at  least  at  the  present  time.  It  is  not  in  the  nature 
of  ethnic  faiths  to  seek  to  win  outsiders.  These  re- 
ligions have  many  doors  of  exit  for  their  followers ; 
but  they  have  only  one  door  of  entrance,  that  of 
birth.  The  Zoroastrian  faith  is  perhaps  one  of  the 
highest  of  the  religions  of  Asia.  Its  followers  reveal 
a  progressive  spirit,  a  refinement  and  a  general 
culture  in  civilization  far  beyond  Hindus,  and  the 
great  mass  of  Buddhists.  But  in  this  matter  it  is 
preeminently  conservative  and  narrow,  as  I  have 
already  shown. 

Hinduism,  also,  has  numerous  methods  of  ex- 
communicating its  sons  and  daughters,  but  none  of 
admitting  a  stranger  into  its  fold.  Buddhism  is  a 
missionary  faith  ;  but  it  is  distinctly  oriental  in  its 

1  "  The  Desire  of  India,"  p.  255. 


The  New  Ideals  16 j 

type,  and  has  thus  far  prospered  in,  and  appealed 
to,  the  Orient  only. 

Mohammedanism  is  the  only  real  rival  of  Chris- 
tianity in  that  it  seeks  conquests  and  new  triumphs 
among  the  peoples  of  other  faiths. 

Christianity  was  compared,  by  its  Founder,  to  a 
seed  whose  chief  function  was  self-propagation,  and 
to  a  leaven  which  assimilates  to  itself  all  that  it  ap- 
proaches. Christianity  is  preeminently  a  self-prop- 
agating cult.  When  it  ceases  to  propagate  itself,  it 
dies  a  natural  death. 

In  the  East  it  is  a  difificult  thing  to  bring  those 
who  have  entered  our  faith  from  the  apathy  of  the 
ethnic  religions  of  their  ancestors,  to  realize  now  that 
theirs  is  a  missionary  religion,  whose  one  supreme 
purpose  is  to  bring  its  life  and  blessings  to  all  men. 
The  Syrian  Church,  in  South  India,  represents  one  of 
the  saddest  spectacles  of  a  Christian  community  that 
I  have  known  anywhere.  For  many  centuries  its 
large  and  outwardly  prosperous  community  was  en- 
tirely devoid  of  any  missionary  impulse.  It  did 
nothing  whatever  to  bring  heathen  souls  into  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ.  It  settled  dpwn  into  absolute  in- 
difference to  the  condition  of  its  non-Christian  neigh- 
bours, and  became  merely  a  distinct  and  exclusive 
caste  among  the  many  castes  of  Hinduism  about  it. 

At  the  present  time,  with  a  new  Western  mission- 
ary consciousness,  and  with  the  new  awakening  in 
the  East,  there  has  come  to  the  native  Church  a  new 
realization  of  its  mission  and  opportunity  to  brifig 
the  world  to  Christ. 


l66        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

This  is  wonderfully  manifest  in  Korea.  The 
Korean  Christian  is  said  to  possess  a  passion,  even 
beyond  that  found  in  the  West,  for  bringing  souls 
into  the  Christian  fold.  It  is  understood  in  the 
Korean  churches  that  no  one  is  worthy  to  be  re- 
ceived into  Christian  fellowship  who  has  not  re- 
vealed the  genuineness  of  his  life  and  sincerity  of  his 
purpose  by  bringing  one  or  more  souls  into  the 
Church  with  him.  Men  in  that  land  are  accustomed 
to  devote  certain  days,  or  weeks,  or  months,  it  may 
be,  exclusively  to  evangelistic  labouT,  to  bring  men 
face  to  face  with  Christ,  and  the  great  problem  of 
their  acceptance  of  Him.  As  an  expression  of  this 
eagerness  to  convert  others  they  have  organized 
training  classes  for  Christian  workers.  Thirty-nine 
per  cent,  of  the  Christians  of  that  land  attended  such 
training  classes  last  year  with  the  object  of  prepar- 
ing themselves  to  be  soul-winners  for  Jesus.  And 
they  travelled  many  weary  miles  in  order  to  attend 
these  classes.  Some  are  said  to  have  come  afoot 
more  than  a  hundred  miles  for  this  purpose. 
"  When  they  return  home  they  speak  of  Christ  to 
their  unconverted  neighbours.  All  expenses  of 
these  classes  are  borne  by  the  Koreans.  In  one 
class  of  250  an  aggregate  of  2,700  days  of  preach- 
ing were  pledged  ;  and  those  who  had  no  time  of 
their  own  to  give  pledged  each  half  a  month's 
salary.  An  order  sent  to  the  Bible  Society  for  100,- 
000  copies  of  a  special  edition  of  the  Gospel  of  Mark 
had  to  be  quadrupled  on  account  of  the  increasing 
demand.     These  copies  are  bought  by  native  Chris- 


The  New  Ideals  167 

tians  for  distribution  among  their  neighbours.  The 
class  leader  here,  who  is  a  well-to-do  farmer,  so  ar- 
ranged his  farm  work  this  year  as  to  devote  practi- 
cally his  whole  time,  without  pay,  to  church  work. 
The  result  has  been  an  increase  of  about  fifty  per 
cent.  Persecution  at  one  church  brought  with  it  the 
stoning  of  two  helpers,  and,  through  their  fidelity, 
victory  and  an  increase  of  over  one  hundred  per 
cent.  .  .  .1  dare  say  that  there  is  no  land  in 
the  world  where  there  is  so  much  personal  and  un- 
paid— in  money — hand  to  hand  and  heart  to  heart 
evangelistic  work  done  as  in  Korea."  ^ 

So  great  is  this  enthusiasm  of  the  Christians  of 
that  land  in  bringing  souls  to  Christ,  that  they  have 
recently  inaugurated  a  movement  under  the  inspir- 
ing watchword, — "  A  Million  Souls  for  Christ." 
What  a  noble  ambition  for  the  200,000  souls  brought 
out  of  heathenism  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, to  achieve  for  Christ  during  the  coming  year  I 
Would  to  God  that  the  same  degree  of  enthusiasm 
and  ambition  might  take  possession  of  the  hearts  of 
all  of  God's  people  in  other  lands  of  the  East  and 
West. 

We  notice  the  same  spirit  also  in  some  parts  of 
Africa.  We  are  familiar  with  the  marvellous  de- 
velopment of  the  Church  in  Uganda,  during  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century,  since  Stanley's  visit  to  that  land 
and  his  wonderful  appeal  for  Africa  in  general  and 
for  Uganda  in  particular ;  for  now  we  see  in  that  one 
region  alone  50,000  baptized  Christians,  all  of  whom 

1  Rev.  J.  Z.  Moore. 


l68        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

are  pledged  to  go  forth  to  bring  others  into  the  fold 
of  Christ.  In  Sumatra  also  they  reveal  this  spirit. 
'*  It  was  owing  to  the  evangelistic  spirit  of  the  Battak 
Christians  that  the  Gospel  spread  so  quickly  and  in 
such  a  healthy  way  in  Sumatra.  The  Battak  Church 
has  even  formed  a  missionary  society  which  carries 
on  almost  independently  mission  work  among  its 
heathen  countrymen,  and  has  now  sent  forth  two 
native  preachers  and  several  teachers  and  evangel- 
ists whom  it  supports."  ^ 

A  like  spirit  reveals  itself  upon  all  sides  in  Japan. 
Many  of  the  independent  churches  of  that  country 
are  not  only  developing  in  life  but  are  reaching  out 
in  spiritual  in^uence  and  power  to  bring  others  into 
the  same  blessing.  So  great  is  this  ambition  that 
some  missionaries  declare  that  **Were  the  whole 
missionary  force  permanently  withdrawn  from  Japan 
the  good  work  would  go  on  and  Japan  would  be- 
come a  Christian  nation."  This  expression  may  re- 
veal an  over-sanguine  temperament.  But  the  situa- 
tion certainly  warrants  every  hope  and  encourage- 
ment to  those  who  have  given  their  lives  for  the  re- 
demption of  that  great  people. 

In  India,  likewise,  there  are  many  evidences  to 
show  the  growing  interest  of  the  Christians  in  the 
progress  of  the  Christian  cause.  I  know  myself  of 
many  who,  a  few  years  ago,  had  no  wider  vision  of 
Christian  sympathy,  and  of  ambition  for  the  Chris- 
tian Church  than  their  own  town  or  hamlet.  But 
they  have  now  entered  upon  the  dawn  of  a  new  day, 

1"  The  Living  Christ,"  etc.,  p.  272. 


The  New  Ideals  169 

with  a  broader  horizon  of  interest,  and  with  a  larger 
outlook  of  sympathy,  and  a  new  purpose  to  bring 
India  to  Christ.  Their  watchword,  to-day,  is  both 
worthy  and  inspiring,  if  not  startling,  as  expressed  in 
those  thrilling  words, — "  India  for  Christ  by  Indians." 
There  is  not  a  well  organized  mission  in  South 
India,  whose  Indian  Christians  have  not  organized 
for  themselves  a  missionary  society,  through  which 
they  are  conducting  evangelistic  activity  in  some 
field  of  their  own.  The  Anglican  Mission  of  Tin- 
nevelly  has  a  strong  missionary  organization  con- 
ducted by  the  people,  and  sending  forth  men  eight 
hundred  miles  into  a  region  and  among  a  people  of 
another  tongue.  That  work  is  being  prosecuted 
vigorously  at  the  present  time  and  has  brought 
many  hundreds  of  benighted  people  to  a  confession 
of  Christ  and  an  acceptance  of  His  faith. 

The  Madura  Mission  has  a  Home  Missionary 
Society  which  has  taken  over  three  hundred  square 
miles  in  that  district  for  its  own  cultivation  and,  at 
its  own  expense,  and  under  its  own  guidance,  has  a 
force  of  men  and  women  working  there  to-day  for 
the  redemption  of  that  people.  The  ofTerings  of  the 
Christians  for  that  work  are  surprisingly  great,  and 
reveal  the  deep  evangelistic  purpose  of  the  Christian 
community. 

A  few  years  ago  the  National  Missionary  Society 
was  established,  with  great  eclat,  by  all  the  Chris- 
tians of  India.  It  has  the  worthy  ambition  of  com- 
bining all  India  Christians  into  one  great  organiza- 
tion whose  sole  purpose  is  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  all 


lyo        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

the  inhabitants  of  the  land  by  their  own  Indian 
brothers.  That  society  has  grown  wonderfully  and 
is  accomplishing  great  things  by  establishing  mis- 
sions in  different  parts  of  the  land,  from  the  Punjab 
to  the  plains  of  Southern  India.  Christians,  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  have  been  drawn  together  into 
this  splendid  enterprise,  and  their  offerings  reveal  a 
definite  purpose  to  make  Christ  known  from  the-Him- 
alayas  on  the  north  to  Cape  Comorin  on  the  south. 

It  is  also  an  encouraging  fact  that  missionaries 
have  been  sent  by  Christian  Indians  from  India  to 
Africa  and  to  the  Isles  of  the  Seas,  chiefly  to  reach 
after  their  own  people,  who  have  gone  into  those 
distant  countries.  Some  of  these  are  even  now  re- 
turning to  their  own  land  as  Christian  men,  having 
been  converted  by  this  agency  during  their  absence 
from  home. 

No  one  who  is  familiar  with  all  this  work,  and  is 
in  touch  with  these  various  movements,  can  fail  to 
be  encouraged  with  the  great  work  which  has  been 
achieved  towards  making  the  Church  in  India  a  self- 
propagating  Church. 

But  this  is  only  the  beginning  of  an  enterprise 
which  must  increase  in  depth  of  purpose  and  in 
breadth  of  activity  until  all  these  lands  shall  verily 
hear  the  Gospel  from  their  own  people  and  until  all 
the  people  shall  accept  Christ  as  their  Saviour. 

IV.    Church  Union 
During  the  last  few  years  the  problem  of  Church 
Union  on  mission  fields  has  thrust  itself  upon  mis- 


The  New  Ideals  171 

sionaries  and  societies  alike,  and  has  suddenly  risen 
to  great  prominence  and  importance. 

The  great  prayer  of  our  Lord  has,  as  its  burden,  the 
union  of  His  people.  That  was  a  most  solemn  occa- 
sion when,  standing,  He  lifted  up  His  hands  towards 
heaven  and  prayed  for  the  apostolic  company 
in  the  Upper  Room.  Their  pride  had  brought  dis- 
sension, and  His  heart  yearned  that  they  might  be 
endued  with  the  spirit  of  peace  and  of  harmony. 
And,  from  that  little  scene.  His  eyes  reached  out  in 
prophetic  vision  to  a  future  divided  Church,  and  His 
prayer  ascended  to  the  Father,  "  that  they  all  may 
be  one." 

Never,  in  these  two  thousand  years,  has  that 
divine  prayer  found  so  full  an  answer  as  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  Christian  union  is  the  strong  conviction, 
the  earnest  prayer,  the  brightening  hope  and  the 
growing  achievement  of  Protestant  Christendom  at 
the  present  time.  The  spirit  of  fellowship  is  every- 
where rife  ;  while  amity,  comity,  federation  and 
organic  union  have  become  the  watchwords  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  all  lands. 

Will  our  Lord's  prayer  for  Christian  union  be  ever 
answered  through  outward  uniformity  as  well  as 
through  oneness  of  spirit  among  all  Christians? 
Shall  we  have  one  organized,  outward  body  of 
Christ  as  well  as  a  perfect  communion  of  soul  and 
fellowship  of  spirit  among  all  Christian  people  ?  It 
is  very  difficult  to  answer  this  inquiry  ;  for  I  believe 
that  temperament  and  climate  and  antecedents 
have  much  to  do,  and  will  continue  to  have  some- 


172        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

thing  to  do,  with  the  differences  of  life  and  organiza- 
tion. 

Yet  I  am  convinced  that  a  perfect  oneness  of 
spirit  among  God's  people — an  uninterrupted  inter- 
change of  loving  sentiments  and  a  full  tide  of 
Christlike  sympathy  and  fellowship — will  not  be 
long  in  creating  for  itself  an  outward  manifestation 
perfectly  corresponding  to  itself,  which  will  -mean 
nothing  less  than  organized  union  of  life  and  of 
activity.  Denominationalism,  or  sectarianism,  is 
not  only  temperamental ;  it  is  also  and  preeminently 
a  heritage  of  the  past,  which  enters  much  less  into 
the  heart  of  our  Hfe  than  we  are  wont  to  think. 
And  as  such,  it  is  and  must  be  a  transient,  ephem- 
eral condition  of  things,  for  the  cessation  of  which  it 
is  our  daily  duty  to  pray  and  to  work.  Whatever 
of  permanence  may  possibly  belong  to  denomina- 
tionalism will  not  be  found  inconsistent  with  organic 
unity  of  life  and  activity  among  God's  people. 

And,  in  the  solution  of  this  problem,  divergence 
in  thought  and  doctrine  will  cease  to  be  a  hindrance. 
I  believe  that  the  day  of  creedal  conformity  as  a 
basis  for  united  action  and  fellowship  is  passing 
away :  indeed  has  already  passed  away  in  most 
enlightened  Christian  communities.  That  two 
brethren  cannot  see  eye  to  eye  concerning  second- 
ary, or  even  primary,  gospel  truths  is  no  reason 
whatever  why  they  should  not  enter  into  fellowship 
of  the  life  of  their  common  Lord  and  into  united, 
loyal  action  for  the  furtherance  of  His  work. 
Creeds,     which     have     always     divided     Christian 


The  New  Ideals 


173 


people,  are  receding  into  the  background  as  a  con- 
dition of  fellowship.  It  is  not  because  men  are 
coming  to  think  more  and  more  alike  ;  but  because 
their  thinking  has  a  less  dominant  place  in  deter- 
mining whether  they  shall  be  united  together  in  His 
Kingdom.  The  ethical  test,  and  above  all  the  test 
of  kinship  of  spirit,  are,  thank  God,  superseding 
the  test  of  creeds  as  conditions  of  union.  The  day 
will  soon  come  when  Christians  will  be  astonished 
at  the  folly  of  this  and  past  ages  in  exalting  the 
intellectual  test  as  the  prime  condition  of  fellowship 
and  of  united  effort  in  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ. 

I  believe  that  the  day  has  come  when,  for  the 
furtherance  and  highest  development  of  all  plans  of 
union  we  shall  place  the  emphasis  which  our  Lord 
Himself  placed  upon  the  idea  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  as  distinct  from  that  of  the  Church  of  God. 
Christ  came  to  establish  a  Kingdom ;  and  He  de- 
voted Himself  absolutely  to  the  furtherance  of  the 
cause  of  that  Kingdom.  And  when  the  Christian 
Church  in  the  East  shall  make  the  Church  concep- 
tion entirely  subordinate  to  the  conception  of  the 
Kingdom,  then  shall  we  cease  to  attach  exclusive 
importance  to  any  one  form  of  church  organization, 
knowing  that  God  has  used  many  forms,  and  wath 
equal  success,  in  the  coming  of  His  great  Kingdom 
of  righteousness  here  upon  earth. 

And,  thank  God,  much  of  the  activity  of  Christ 
and  of  His  Spirit  in  the  world,  to-day,  through  such 
organizations  as  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 


174        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

ciation,  is  outside  the  domain  of  any  ecclesiastical  or 
denominational  organization.  Chancellor  Stephens 
well  expressed  this  thought  when  he  said, — "  How 
shall  this  great  work  be  achieved  ?  How  shall  the 
robust  faith  of  individualism  be  harnessed  with  the 
concord  of  corporate  solidarity  ?  There  is  but  one 
solution  of  the  problem.  That  solution  is  to  be 
found  in  the  subordination  of  the  Visible  Church  to 
the  Invisible  Church  which  God's  Spirit  creates  in 
the  hearts  of  His  children.  The  life  of  the  Spirit 
must  be  exalted  to  the  supreme  place." 

And  we  should  not  forget  the  statement  of  Canon 
Hensley  Henson  that  "  Denominationalism  as  a 
pri7iciple  is  stricken  for  death."  It  may  accomplish 
much  in  the  future ;  but  its  greatest  usefulness  has 
passed,  and  it  must  give  way  to  the  broader  and  the 
higher  idea  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Connected  with  these  statements  should  be  placed 
the  notable  deliverance  of  Lord  Balfour  of  Burleigh, 
in  his  opening  address  of  the  recent  great  World 
Missionary  Conference.  "We  may,"  he  said,  "be 
divided,  we  may  be  independent,  we  may  come 
from  different  lands,  and  we  may  pursue  diverse 
methods,  but  we  recognize  the  same  duty  and  we 
acknowledge  the  same  object.  No  divisions  free  us 
from  the  obligation,  and  the  great  lesson  which  we 
are  learning  is  that  none  of  us  can  discharge  it 
alone.  If  we  are  to  be  successful  a  greater  amount 
of  unity  must  be  attained  than  has  ever  been  the 
case  in  the  past.  We  believe  that  the  meeting  of 
this  Conference  will  make  us  still  less  inclined  to 


The  New  Ideals  175 

deny  that  overlapping  and  its  waste  of  energy,  its 
waste  of  men  and  women,  its  waste  of  material 
resources,  are  nothing  short  of  treason  to  Him 
whom  we  acknowledge  as  our  common  Master. 
Surely  there  is  much  more  which  should  unite  us 
than  keep  us  apart." 

I  question  whether  we  realize  fully  the  importance 
and  urgency  of  this  movement  towards  Church 
Union. 

We  should  not  forget  that  every  year  deepens  our 
sectarian  ruts  in  mission  lands.  They  are  thor- 
oughly Western,  and  the  people  have  had  nothing 
to  do,  thus  far,  with  their  formation  and  perpetua- 
tion. The  longer  they  continue  on  these  Western 
lines,  the  more  difficult  it  will  be  to  abandon  them 
for  a  scheme  which  will  be  more  in  consonance  with 
the  nature  and  needs  of  the  people.  If  all  recognize, 
as  I  believe  we  do,  the  need  of  adapting  our 
systems  to  these  countries  we  shall  also  agree, 
probably,  that  the  sooner  it  is  done  the  better.  The 
continuance  of  even  a  better  thing  in  lieu  of  the  best 
may  be  a  serious  evil. 

I  think  that  it  is  necessary  also  to  have  regard  to 
the  weak  and  isolated  condition  of  the  native  Church. 
Our  little  missions,  scattered  here  and  there  with  their 
few  poor  Christians,  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of 
their  weakness  as  they  are  surrounded  by  the  proud 
and  mighty  forces  of  other  faiths,  find  in  the  situation 
every  element  of  discouragement.  They  need  the 
inspiration  of  numbers  ;  they  need  a  broader  horizon 
of   fellowship  ;   they    need   the  cheer  and  courage 


176        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

which  come  from  a  consciousness  of  their  tangible 
union  and  communion  with  millions  of  their  brethren 
all  over  the  world.  At  present  there  is  not  one  in 
ten  native  Christians  who  knows  practically  any- 
thing about  other  Christian  communities  than  his 
own.  And  even  mission  agents  have  such  peculiar 
ideas  about  other  Christian  communities  than  their 
own,  and  other  missions  than  those  in  which  they 
were  nurtured,  that  it  might  be  well  if  they  did  not 
know  them  at  all.  Our  people  eminently  and 
urgently  need  the  strength  and  inspiration  that  will 
come  to  their  hearts  through  the  establishment  of  a 
union — a  close,  persistent,  demonstrative  union — 
between  them  and  other  Christians  in  their  country. 

The  broadening  sense  of  nationalism,  which  is  now 
creating  such  a  stir  politically  in  the  East,  carries  its 
own  suggestion  of  a  broadening  Christian  fellowship, 
shall  I  also  say,  of  national  Christian  Churches. 
These  movements  furnish  an  invitation  to  link,  as 
far  as  possible,  all  communities  together  into  a 
mighty  chain  of  redeeming  power  in  Eastern  lands. 
We  should  strive  to  make  the  Church  national  in 
spirit  and  organized  union,  as  well  as  in  the  out- 
reach of  its  ambition  and  efforts  for  the  salvation  of 
all  the  peoples. 

And  I  would  repeat  that  inter-denominational 
and  extra-denominational  and  extra-ecclesiastical 
Christian  movements  are  multiplying  their  forces 
and  reaching  out  their  hands  in  redeeming  influence 
all  over  the  world.  While  these  splendid  organiza- 
tions are  locking  their  many  hands  of  usefulness  in 


The  New  Ideals  177 

united  organized  work  throughout  the  world,  why 
should  our  petty  divisions  of  the  Church  of  God 
stand  in  helpless,  impotent  isolation  and  think  that 
thereby  they  are  representing  the  highest  spirit  of 
our  age  and  responding  to  God's  call  of  this  twentieth 
century  to  His  own  people  ?  Verily,  this  is  an  age 
in  which  all  forces  are  perfecting  their  organiza- 
tions for  cooperation,  mutual  support  and  highest 
efficiency.  And  among  all  these  agencies  shall  the 
Church  of  God  be  the  last  to  abide  in  its  divided 
and  weak  isolation? 

What  has  been  accomplished  in  behalf  of  a 
united  Church  on  mission  fields  ?  I  know  of  nothing 
which  will  better  enlighten  one  on  this  subject  than 
the  report  of  ''  Commission  VIII  "  of  the  World 
Missionary  Conference  at  Edinburgh,  in  June  last. 
Here  we  are  told  that  this  spirit  of  union  is  working 
as  a  mighty  leaven  throughout  the  many  lands  of 
the  East.  In  Japan,  the  work  has  made  marked 
progress.  ''The  first  instance  of  a  union  of  Presby- 
terian Churches  to  form  a  single  national  Church  in 
the  mission  field  took  place  in  Japan.  In  the  year 
1877  the  mission  Churches  connected  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  (North), 
the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  and  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  united  to  form  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  Japan.  The  Council  was  joined 
later  by  the  churches  planted  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  (South),  the  Reformed 
Church  in  the  United  States,  and  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church." 


lyS        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

The  first  Christian  Church  in  Japan,  organized  in 
1872,  was  not  only  born  in  prayer,  but  was  definitely 
a  union  Church.  The  first  article  of  its  creed  says, 
"  Our  Church  does  not  belong  to  any  sect  whatever  ; 
it  believes  in  the  name  of  Christ  in  whom  all  are 
one  ;  it  believes  that  all  who  take  the  Bible  as  their 
guide  and  diligently  study  it  are  the  servants  of 
Christ  and  our  brethren.  For  this  reason  all  believers 
on  earth  belong  to  the  family  of  Christ  in  the  bonds 
of  brotherly  love." 

Of  the  Christian  forces  in  Japan,  Dr.  DeForest 
writes,  **  There  is  no  land  in  which  differences  among 
missionaries  are  so  few  and  unimportant  or  in  which 
unions  have  reduced  the  number  of  agencies  to  so 
great  a  degree  as  in  Japan.  The  usual  way  of  speak- 
ing of  mission  forces  in  Japan,  therefore,  is  to  refer 
to  them  as  unions  of  allied  societies  under  the 
familiar  names  of  Baptist,  Congregational,  Episcopal, 
Methodist  and  Presbyterian." 

At  the  present  time  a  Church  union  is  being 
attempted  in  South  Africa  between  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Congregational,  Presbyterian  and  Baptist 
denominations.  They  have  formed  and  adopted  a 
common  and  brief  confession  of  faith  and  are  con- 
vinced **  that  organic  unification  is  the  only  form  of 
union  that  will  permit  the  three  religious  bodies  to 
mobilize  and  distribute  their  forces  in  such  effective 
fashion  that  every  atom  of  their  energy  and  resources 
shall  be  fruitfully  engaged  in  the  campaign  for  the 
Master  in  this  sub-continent." 

In  China,  also,  wonderful  progress  has  been  made 


The  New  Ideals  179 

in  bringing  the  various  branches  of  the  Christian 
Church  into  federation  of  activity  and  into  Christian 
fellowship.  So  far  back  as  1862  different  Presby- 
terian bodies  began  uniting  ;  so  that  now  representa- 
tives of  nearly  all  the  Presbyterian  bodies  working 
have  entered  into  organic  union  and  are  really  one 
Christian  Church.  Among  the  various  denomina- 
tions of  Christianity,  efforts  have  thus  far  been  con- 
ducted more  on  federation,  than  on  organic  union, 
lines.  But  there  is  increasing  evidence  that  the  Lord's 
prayer  is  being  answered  in  China  in  the  readiness 
of  the  representatives  of  various  sects  and  denomina- 
tions to  reveal  mutual  sympathy  and  to  unite  in 
common  work,  educationally  and  otherwise,  for  the 
furtherance  of  their  common  cause,  in  their  common 
Lord. 

The  greatest  advance  of  all  mission  lands  has  been 
made  in  India.  Not  only  has  the  spirit  of  federation 
and  comity  revealed  itself  there  for  many  years ; 
organic  union  also  has  been  achieved  as  perhaps  in 
no  other  land.  Christians  of  different  denominations 
are  now  uniting  in  various  forms  of  missionary 
activity.  Not  only  is  the  same  college  being  sup- 
ported by  various  bodies  ;  recently  several  denomina- 
tions opened  a  Union  Theological  College  in  South 
India,  for  the  training  of  high  class  Christian 
workers.  In  Serampore,  also,  heroic  efforts  are  being 
made  to  develop  the  old  Carey  College  into  a  Chris- 
tian University  for  all  India  where  a  degree  shall  be 
offered  to  those  trained  for  religious  service.  In 
various  other  ways  mutual  confidence  and  fellow- 


l8o        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

ship  in  work  are  revealed  among  many  bodies  work- 
ing in  that  land. 

A  few  years  ago  all  the  Presbyterian  church  or- 
ganizations in  India — and  there  were  a  large  num- 
ber of  them  from  several  countries — organized  into 
one  General  Assembly,  and  thus  became  one  Church. 
This  was  a  much  more  difficult  thing  than  would 
seem  on  the  face  of  it,  because  various  nationalities  had 
their  many  prejudices,  creeds,  and  old  historic  feuds 
to  give  up  in  order  to  unite  together  into  one  Church. 

The  various  Baptist  denominations  and  the  Lu- 
theran divisions  are  now  considering  how  they  can 
come  together  and  form  a  Pan-Baptist  and  a  Pan- 
Lutheran  union. 

The  latest  advance,  however,  was  the  organiza- 
tion in  South  India,  two  years  ago,  of  **  The  United 
Church  of  South  India."  Into  this  Church  the 
churches  of  six  missions  entered,  representing  140,- 
000  Christians.  They  were  connected  with  the 
United  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed Church  of  America,  the  Congregationalists 
of  America,  and  the  Independents,  or  Congregation- 
alists, of  England.  This  Church  discarded  all  the 
creeds  and  confessions  of  the  various  denominations 
represented,  and  formed  a  brief  confession  of  its  own. 
Its  polity  is  a  happy  blend  of  the  ideas  and  ideals  of 
the  Christians  who  have  entered  into  the  compact. 
It  is  thoroughly  elastic  and  can  be  utilized  in  the  line 
of  the  choice  of  either  party.  I  have  no  doubt  but 
that,  in  a  short  time,  other  denominations  will  enter 
the   new  Church.     Its  doors  are  wide  open  and  its 


The  New  Ideals  l8l 

invitation  is  broad  and  cordial.  It  represents  no 
compromise  of  any  Christian  truth  and  no  abandon- 
ment of  any  essential  doctrine  of  our  faith. 

The  spirit  of  union  is  in  the  air,  and  Jesus,  who 
prayed  for  that  union,  is  conducting  and  inspiring 
His  own  with  a  view  to  answering  His  own  prayer 
in  those  lands  of  the  East. 

Consider  the  benefits  which  must  accrue  to  the 
cause  of  Christ  from  this  movement  towards  church 
union. 

Note  the  inspiration  which  it  will  bring  to  Eastern 
Christians,  and  the  breadth  of  sympathy  which  it  will 
create  and  cultivate  within  them,  as  they  think  of 
themselves  no  longer  as  separate  units,  but  as  mem- 
bers of  a  great  and  a  growing  body  with  which  they 
are  connected,  not  only  by  spiritual  affinity,  but  also 
by  a  definite  organization  and  joint  activity. 

It  will  also  add  to  the  efficiency  of  our  native 
agency.  We  know  of  the  discouraging  narrowness 
of  most  of  the  men  and  women  who  form  our  mis- 
sion agency.  Some  of  us  have  seen  how  a  visit  by 
one  of  these  to  another  mission  has  instantly  broad- 
ened his  sympathies  ;  and  how  pastors  from  isolated 
corners  of  their  country,  after  a  visit  as  delegates  to 
newly  formed  ecclesiastical  union  meetings  in  adjoin- 
ing missions,  have  returned  to  their  home  and 
churches  with  a  new  glow  of  enthusiasm  and  a  new 
sense  of  the  greatness  of  the  cause  which  they  repre- 
sent and  of  the  coming  of  the  mighty  Kingdom  of 
God  of  which  they  are  but  one  small  part,  and  yet  a 
living  part. 


l82        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

This  movement  also  will  bring  conviction  to  the 
non-Christians  of  the  power  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
upon  earth.  This  union  of  Christendom,  and,  on  a 
smaller  scale,  the  union  of  our  Christian  Churches 
in  the  East,  is  to  become  in  the  near  future  the  most 
potent  testimony  to  the  divinity  of  our  Lord  and  of 
His  faith  in  the  presence  of  the  millions  of  non-Chris- 
tian people.  Remember  again  our  Lord's  prayer. 
He  prayed  to  the  Father,  ''  That  they  all  may  be 
one  ;  even  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee, 
that  they  may  also  be  in  us  ;  that  the  world  may  be- 
lieve that  Thou  didst  send  Me."  This,  I  think,  will 
and  must  be  the  highest  result  of  the  union  of  God's 
Church  in  non-Christian  lands,  even  the  conviction 
and  the  conversion  of  the  millions  of  those  lands 
through  the  testimony  of  the  Church,  by  its  united 
life  and  common  love. 

And  there  is  nothing  surer  than  that  in  this,  as  in 
all  other  matters,  union  means  strength  and  economy 
— strength  in  working  out  our  great  purposes,  and 
economy  of  men  and  money  in  the  execution  of  this 
work.  All  are  familiar  with  the  lamentable  waste  in 
financial  and  missionary  resources  as,  in  small  and 
isolated  ways,  men  strive  to  carry  on  the  work  which 
is  so  dear  to  their  hearts.  In  the  training  of  the 
mission  agency,  and  in  the  employment  of  the  same, 
in  the  broader  educational  work  and  in  many  other 
ways,  comity  and  cooperation  would  mean  economy 
of  strength  and  a  reserve  of  power  for  the  other  de- 
partments of  work.  Conservation  of  energy  and 
the   wisest   administration   of   God's   pence   in  His 


The  New  Ideals  183 

missionary  cause  is  intimately  connected  with  a  grow- 
ing union  of  God's  people  and  a  coming  together  of 
His  Churches  in  all  lands. 

This  movement  will,  moreover,  quicken  the  pace 
of  the  Church  in  its  progress  towards  a  national  and 
universal  consciousness.  This  tendency  is  manifest 
to-day  ;  but  it  needs  to  be  accelerated  so  that  the 
native  Church  may  speedily  come  to  a  consciousness 
of  its  world-wide  destiny,  when  the  prayers,  the  love 
and  the  sympathy  of  the  united  Church  of  God  will 
enfold  every  hamlet  and  every  soul  in  the  land. 

And,  finally,  the  benefits  which  accrue  from  it  will 
reflect  in  power  upon  the  home  Churches  of  the 
West  which  have  established  and  support  the  mis- 
sionS.  Our  home  Churches  and  denominations  are, 
in  a  very  marked  way,  drawing  together  ;  the  old 
barriers  are  being  burned  away  one  by  one,  and  the 
denominational  ruts  are  being  closed  in  gradually. 
But  there  are  a  thousand  vested  interests,  outstand- 
ing prejudices  and  petty  jealousies,  which  make  for 
division  and  which  render  the  powers  of  repulsion 
still  greater  than  those  of  attraction  in  the  home 
lands.  On  the  mission  field  it  is  not  so.  Missionaries^ 
are  free,  to  some  extent,  from  the  constraint  of  those 
dividing  influences.  They  have  a  God-given  free- 
dom and  opportunity  which  arise  from  their  remote- 
ness from  those  fields  of  denominational  conflict  and 
prejudice.  Both  the  novelty  of  their  situation  and 
the  grand  incitement  to  launch  out  into  the  deep  of 
spiritual  union  and  communion  furnish  them  with  the 
great  opportunity  of  their  life.     And  it  invites  them 


184        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

in  a  very  marked  way  to  push  forward  these  move- 
ments for  Christian  union,  not  only  for  the  sake  of 
mission  fields,  but  also  for  the  sake  of  the  Home 
Church.  For,  among  the  great  blessings  that  the 
Mission  Church  of  the  East  is  to  confer  upon  the 
Mother  Church  of  the  West,  none  will  be  greater,  in 
my  estimation,  than  that  of  leadership  and  example 
in  the  province  of  Christian  Federation,  Comity  and 
Union.  And  it  will  be  a  very  sad  thing  for  Asia  and 
Africa,  if  they  do  not  present  to  the  Church  of  the 
West  the  inspiration  of  their  example  in  the  promo- 
tion of  this  spirit  and  in  furnishing  this  answer  to 
Christ's  great  prayer,  "  That  they  all  may  be  one." 


/« 


i 


VI 

Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs 

IT  is  impossible  to  enumerate,  in  a  brief  chapter, 
more  than  a  few  of  the  triumphs  which  Chris- 
tian missions  have  won  during  the  last  century. 
They  are  woven  into  the  fabric  of  human  progress 
and  of  advancing  civilization  in  the  far-off  lands  of 
the  earth.  There  are  men  who  fail  to  see  them  and 
who  consequently  depreciate,  some  of  them  even  de- 
nounce, the  work  of  the  great  missionary  propa- 
ganda. Not  having  eyes  to  see  or  hearts  to  appre- 
ciate the  mighty  triumphs  of  the  Gospel,  they  try  to 
hide  their  own  lack  of  knowledge  by  oft  repeated 
and  persistent  statements  that  nothing  has  been  ac- 
complished, and  that  the  work  is  a  failure.  These 
critics  and  croakers  are  found  in  all  lands,  especially 
in  our  Christian  lands  of  the  West.  They  will  be 
found  to  the  end  of  time  ;  but  they  will  not  interrupt 
the  chorus  of  the  Christian  host  in  praise  of  what 
Christ  has  accomplished  through  the  missionary  en- 
terprise for  the  salvation  of  the  world. 

It  is  well,  however,  to  remember  that  the  best  in- 
formed men  and  women,  those  who  have  travelled 
far  and  observed  carefully,  those  to  whose  words  the 
world  cares  to  listen  and  in  whose  testimony  it  has 
absolute  confidence,  those  also  who  have  a  deep  in- 

185 


l86        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

terest  in  the  human  race — the  testimony  of  all  such 
is  invariably  and  heartily  appreciative  of  missionary 
work  and  its  triumphs.  Dr.  J.  L.  Barton  has  written 
an  interesting  volume  on  "  The  Missionary  and  His 
Critics."  Within  its  pages  one  can  see  abundant 
and  hearty  testimony  to  the  nobility  of  the  lives  of 
the  missionaries  and  to  the  wonderful  results  which 
they  have  achieved  among  the  non-Christian  peoples 
of  the  earth.  The  recent,  hearty  testimony  of  Pres- 
ident Taft,  concerning  missionary  work  in  the  Phil- 
ippines ;  the  cordial  appreciation,  by  ex-President 
Roosevelt,  of  the  efforts  now  made  in  so  many  parts 
of  Africa  ;  the  statement  of  Ambassador  Bryce,  be- 
fore the  Student  Volunteers  in  their  great  Convention 
at  Rochester,  testifying  to  the  wondrous  work  of 
missions  in  all  lands  of  the  earth  ; — these  are  only  a 
few  notes  of  the  great  symphony  of  appreciation  and 
applause  accorded  in  view  of  the  character  and 
achievements  of  this  work. 

Some  who  had  been  out  of  sympathy  with  the 
enterprise  were  impressed  and  became  its  ardent 
friends  the  moment  they  came  into  touch  with  it. 
Robert  Louis  Stevenson  was  living  in  the  South 
Sea  Islands  when  he  wrote  the  following  words, — 
**  I  had  conceived  a  great  prejudice  against  mis- 
sions in  the  South  Seas,  and  I  had  no  sooner  come 
there  than  that  prejudice  was  at  first  reduced, 
and  then  at  last  annihilated.  Those  who  deblatter- 
ate  against  missions  have  only  one  thing  to  do,  to 
come  and  see  them  on  the  spot.  They  will  see  a 
great  deal  of  good  done,  and  I  believe,  if  they  be 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         187 

honest  persons,  they  will  cease  to  complain  of  mis- 
sion work  and  its  effects." 

The  distinguished  traveller  and  writer,  Mrs.  Isa- 
bella Bird  Bishop,  expressed  her  sympathy  in  the 
following  words, — "  I  am  a  convert  to  missions 
through  seeing  missions  and  the  need  for  them. 
Some  years  ago  I  took  no  interest  whatever  in  the 
condition  of  the  heathen ;  I  had  heard  much  ridicule 
cast  upon  Christian  missions,  and  perhaps  had  im- 
bibed some  of  the  unhallowed  spirit.  But  the  mis- 
sionaries, by  their  life  and  character,  and  by  the 
work  they  are  doing,  wherever  I  have  seen  them, 
have  produced  in  my  mind  such  a  change  and  such 
an  enthusiasm,  as  I  might  almost  express  it,  in 
favour  of  Christian  missions,  that  I  cannot  go  any- 
where without  speaking  about  them  and  trying  to 
influence  others  in  their  favour  who  may  be  as  in- 
different as  I  was."  When  the  distinguished  ex- 
plorer, Henry  M.  Stanley,  was  asked, — '*  Do  you 
consider  the  efforts  of  foreign  missionaries  really  a 
success?"  he  replied,  "Yes,  most  emphatically.  It 
can  be  shown  to-day  as  something  marvellous.  The 
story  of  the  Uganda  missionary  enterprise  is  an  epic 
poem.  I  know  of  few  secular  enterprises,  military 
or  otherwise,  deserving  of  greater  praise." 

Were  it  necessary,  one  could'  multiply  indefinitely 
the  testimony  of  such  witnesses  in  the  West,  and, 
what  is  perhaps  more  significant  still,  the  testimony 
of  non-Christian  people  in  the  East.  These  people 
are  not  prepared  to  commit  their  own  lives  to  our 
faith ;  nevertheless  they  are  not  blind  to  some  of  the 


l88        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

mighty  results  achieved  by  these  missions  in  their 
own  countries.  A  distinguished  Brahman  of  India 
once  wrote, — **  In  justice  to  the  missionary,  I  must 
say  that  he  has  done  much  to  lift  the  Pariah,  socially 
and  mentally,  by  opening  schools  and  educating 
those  who  become  converts.  The  structure  of 
Hindu  society  and  religion — built  on  caste — is  such 
that  there  is  no  such  help  for  the  Pariah  as  the 
Christian  missionary  has  brought  to  him." 

To  these  testimonies  I  will  only  add  one  concern- 
ing the  work  of  American  societies  throughout  the 
world,  by  the  Hon.  William  J.  Bryan.-  In  his 
usually  eloquent  strain  he  says, — "  I  do  not  apolo- 
gize for  mentioning,  from  time  to  time,  the  institu- 
tions which  altruistic  Americans  have  scattered  over 
the  Orient.  If  we  cannot  boast  that  the  sun  never 
sets  on  American  territory,  we  can  find  satisfaction 
in  the  fact  that  the  sun  never  sets  upon  American 
philanthropy  ;  if  the  boom  of  our  cannon  does  not 
follow  the  orb  of  day  in  his  daily  round,  the  grateful 
thanks  of  those  who  have  been  the  beneficiaries  of 
American  generosity  form  a  chorus  that  encircles 
the  globe." 

At  the  present  time,  the  missionary  cannot  com- 
plain that  his  work  is  without  appreciation  among 
Christians  and  non-Christians  alike.  His  great 
achievements  are  recognized  by  the  world,  and  the 
marvellous  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  are  known 
among  all  men,  in  the  Far  East  as  well  as  in  the 
West. 

Let  us  consider  a  few  of  these  missionary  victories. 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         189 

I 

The  growth  of  the  Christian  community  in  non- 
Christian  lands  is  encouraging  to  all  who  have  an 
interest  in  the  work.  There  are  not  only  5,281,871 
souls  brought  out  of  heathen  darkness  and  definitely 
recognized  as  converts  under  the  different  mission- 
ary organizations  in  non-Christian  lands.  There  is 
also  a  much  larger  number  which  is  the  definite 
fruitage  of  the  modern  missionary  enterprise.  This 
includes  all  Christians  of  the  negro  race.  Dr. 
Gustav  Warneck,  the  most  distinguished  authority 
on  missions,  has  recently  stated  that  there  are 
12,658,300  souls,  of  non-Christian  origin,  that  have 
been  Christianized  and  are  now  represented  in  the 
Christian  world.  This  is  only  the  product  of  Prot- 
estant missionary  effort.  To  this  number  he  also 
adds  5,711,100  who  are  the  result  of  Roman  Catho- 
lic and  Russian  Orthodox  missions  among  non- 
Christians.  Thus  he  estimates  the  total  fruitage  of 
modern  Christian  missions  from  non-Christians  as 
being  18,369,400. 

The  committee  of  the  recent  World  Missionary 
Conference,  after  further  careful  study  of  the  situa- 
tion, has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  these  figures 
are  altogether  too  low,  and  estimates  that  the  total 
results  of  Christian  missions  of  the  past  century, 
represented  by  living  converts.  Christianized  from 
non-Christian  peoples,  approach  21,000,000  souls. 

Thus,  among  the  non-Christian  peoples  there  is  a 
mighty  and  a  rapidly  growing  community,  bearing 
testimony  to  the  world,  by  life  and  by  precept,  that 


igo        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Jesus  is  the  world  Saviour,  and  that  His  Gospel  is 
adequate  to  meet  the  needs  and  to  save  from  sin 
men  of  all  tongues  and  of  all  climes. 

In  this  outlook,  it  is  interesting  to  notice  how 
wonderfully  gospel  truth  has  triumphed  over,  and  is 
transforming,  the  uncivilized  peoples  of  the  earth. 
The  record  of  the  past  century  is  marvellous  in  its 
testimony  to  the  uplifting  and  saving  power  of  the 
Gospel  over  the  lowest  and  most  debased  among 
men.  Dr.  Johan  Warneck,  in  his  excellent  book, 
**The  Living  Christ  and  Dying  Heathenism," 
writes, — **  We  may  take  the  course  of  mission  work 
among  the  Battaks  as  typical  of  modern  missions 
among  the  animistic  peoples.  When  heathenism 
first  meets  Christianity  it  decisively  rejects  it.  But 
gradually,  by  patient,  persistent  work,  individuals 
are  won,  who,  however,  are  thereby  alienated  from 
the  national  union.  Ten  or  fifteen  years  elapse ; 
then  secessions  increase,  the  strong  tension  between 
heathen  and  Christian  is  lessened,  the  attractive 
power  of  the  Gospel  increased,  till  whole  communi- 
ties, provinces  and  tribes  pass  over  to  the  Christian 
camp.  To-day,  after  forty-five  years'  labour,  the 
land  has  been  partly  Christianized,  and  the  time  is 
not  far  distant  when  the  majority  of  the  people  will 
break  with  heathenism  and  come  over  to  Christian- 
ity." 

We  are  familiar  with  the  marvels  of  gospel 
triumph  in  the  Islands  of  the  Sea.  How  brief  is  the 
time  since  those  islanders  were  brutal  cannibals, 
representing  the  lowest  stratum  of  our  race.     The 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         191 

first  missionaries  sent  to  them  were  killed  and  eaten 
by  them.  They  spent  their  time  in  fighting  and  in 
feasting  upon  their  enemies.  To-day,  descendants 
of  those  who  killed  God's  saints  are  themselves 
missionary  messengers  of  the  same  Gospel  that 
their  ancestors  defied  and  rejected.  Many  of  these 
islands  are  completely  Christianized ;  and  out  from 
among  these  people  there  go  forth  many  mis- 
sionaries to  the  unevangelized  islands  and  are  sup- 
ported there  by  their  own  people.  More  than  this, 
these  people  are  contributing  generously  to  those 
missionary  societies  in  the  West  which  first  carried 
to  them  the  gospel  light,  and  brought  to  them  the 
Christ  who  has  redeemed  them,  and  given  unto 
them,  a  new  song,  which  shall  be  theirs  throughout 
eternity. 

We  are  familiar  with  the  triumphs  of  the  Gospel 
among  the  dark  people  of  Africa.  How  very 
recently  those  great  men  of  God,  Moffat  and  Living- 
stone, buried  themselves,  for  many  years,  in  the 
heart  of  Africa,  seeking  to  bring  spiritual  life  and 
blessing  to  the  degraded  millions  of  that  continent. 
It  was  theirs  to  give  their  life  in  order  to  heal  **  the 
running  sore  "  of  that  people  and  to  bring  them  out 
of  the  accursed  double  bondage  of  physical  and 
spiritual  slavery.  Africa  was  then  not  known  to  the 
world.  To-day  gospel  messengers  are  carrying  the 
Word  of  life  into  a  thousand  dark  regions  of  that 
continent;  and  2,000,000  souls,  in  connection  with 
Protestant  missions  alone,  have  testified  to  their  ap- 
preciation of  this  work  by  abandoning  their  heathen- 


192        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

ism  and  enrolling  themselves  among  the  converts  of 
our  faith.  In  some  parts  of  Africa  the  missionary 
conquest  has  made  astonishing  advance ;  nowhere 
perhaps  more  than  in  the  country  of  the  Bagandas. 
In  1875  Stanley  issued  his  great  "  Challenge  to 
Christendom."  He  made  vocal  the  request  of  King 
Mtesa  for  Christian  missionaries.  In  England  the 
challenge  was  accepted  at  once,  and  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  poured  forth  its  messengers,  who 
have  wrought  w^onders  in  Christ's  name.  Persecu- 
tion and  martyrdom  was  at  first  the  lot  of  more  than 
one  ;  but  the  Gospel  has  triumphed,  and  Uganda  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  witnesses  to  the  power 
of  the  Gospel  to  bring  a  low,  benighted  people  into 
the  joy  and  the  power  of  Christ's  own  Kingdom  of 
Love. 

Mr.  Naylo!r,  in  "  Daybreak  in  the  Dark  Continent" 
paints  the  progress  of  the  work  in  that  region  : — 
**  The  Uganda  Church  had  its  roll  of  native  member- 
ship written  in  martyrs'  blood.  Its  early  history  is  a 
recital  of  the  most  sublime  faith  amid  terrible  persecu- 
tion and  torture. 

"In  1904  the  Church  of  England  had  in  Uganda 
43,868  baptized  Christians  (8,321  having  been 
baptized  during  the  year),  32  ordained  native  clergy- 
men, 2,468  native  evangelists  and  teachers,  a 
cathedral,  built  at  native  expense,  seating  4,000  per- 
sons, and  1,070  other  places  of  worship,  with  a  seat- 
ing capacity  of  127,000,  and  with  an  average  Sab- 
bath attendance  of  50,000.  Nearly  100,000  people 
could    read    and   write    and    250,000   were    under 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         193 

religious  instruction.  All  of  this  native  work  is 
financed  by  native  Christians,  and  is  practically  self- 
governing.  The  bishop  is  the  only  European  mem- 
ber of  the  chief  Council.  Native  evangelists  and 
missionaries  are  being  sent. throughout  the  kingdom 
of  Uganda  and  to  surrounding  tribes. 

*' '  A  nation  in  a  day ! '  Into  the  sombre  blood- 
stained tapestry  of  Pagan  life  the  new  thread  of  a 
mighty  Love  has  been  woven.  This  wonderful 
thread  can  be  traced,  now  dividing  and  intertwining, 
now  knotted  and  tangled  and  shredded,  now,  except 
to  a  keen  eye,  lost  sight  of,  though  only  to  reappear 
in  clearer  design,  marred  here  by  ruthless  hands, 
stained  there  with  martyr  blood,  but  finally  dominat- 
ing the  whole,  until  the  fabric  grows  firm  and  endur- 
ing, and  the  pattern  distinct  and  chaste  and  beauti- 
ful." ' 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  remarkable  work 
among  the  Karens  of  Burma,  whereby  nearly  a 
quarter  of  that  whole  mountain  tribe,  in  about  half  a 
century,  have  not  only  been  brought  out  of  their 
heathenism,  but  also  from  their  grossest  barbarism, 
into  Christian  life  and  into  the  marvellous  possession 
of  the  graces  of  the  Gospel.  I  know  of  no  people 
who  have  undergone  a  more  wonderful  change,  and 
who  are  revealing  more  of  the  riianly  traits  of  Chris- 
tian life  and  independence,  than  these  quarter  of  a 
million  souls  brought  out  of  the  bondage  of  lowest 
superstition. 

It  is  true  that  Christianity  has  not  yet  completely 

»  "  Daybreak  in  the  Dark  Continent,"  pp.  267,  268. 


/ 


1/ 


194        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

taken  possession  of,  and  stamped  with  its  own  life 
and  name  any  great  non-Christian  civilized  people. 
But  it  is  certainly,  during  these  later  years,  achiev- 
ing wonders  in  those  lands  also. 

We  know  how  markedly  Japan  has  taken  over 
much  of  the  Christian  civilization  of  the  West.  She 
has  absorbed  a  great  deal  of  the  graces  of  our  faith, 
even  though  she  has  not,  in  very  large  numbers, 
entered  into  the  fellowship  of  Christian  life  or  fully 
accepted  Christ  as  her  Saviour.  But  even  in  this 
respect  there  has  been  striking  advance.  Up  to 
1872  only  ten  Protestant  Christians  had  been  bap- 
tized. In  1903  there  were  42,900  church-members. 
Japan,  to-day,  is  possessed  of  a  Christian  community 
of  100,000  souls,  among  whom  are  some  of  the  most 
progressive,  valiant  and  aggressive  followers  of 
Christ  in  Asia.  Many  of  them  are  men  of  culture, 
of  distinction,  and  of  great  influence  in  their  coun- 
try. They  exhibit  some  of  the  best  traits  of  our 
faith.  With  a  spirit  of  independence,  and  with  an 
evangelistic  fervour  they  are  revealing  a  determina- 
tion to  bring,  as  speedily  as  possible,  their  whole 
country  to  the  feet  of  Jesus.  To  those  who  are 
labouring  in  Japan,  the  situation  is  full  of  hope,  even 
if  there  are  also  many  discouragements  and  hin- 
drances to  the  cause. 

In  China  they  stand  face  to  face  with  perhaps  the 
greatest  problem  of  the  cause  in  the  Far  East.  A 
quarter  of  the  human  race  are  there  found  under  the 
mighty  influences  of  that  congeries  of  ancient  faiths. 
A  century  ago  it  needed  infinite  patience  and  a  sub- 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         195 

lime  faith,  upon  the  part  of  its  first  Protestant  mis- 
sionaries, as  they  confronted  that  stronghold  of 
heathenism.  All  are  familiar  with  the  patient  strug- 
gle and  the  resolute  continuance  of  Dr.  Morrison  in 
his  initial  work  for  the  redemption  of  that  land.  For 
fifty  years  there  was  very  little  there  to  encourage 
the  missionary,  in  his  arduous  task  against  terrible 
odds,  among  that  stoical  and  prosaic  people.  But 
the  dawn  of  day  has  come,  and  China,  with  other 
lands  of  the  Far  East,  is  coming  to  her  own,  and  is 
opening  her  eyes  to  a  new  vision  of  blessing  and  of 
power  and  is  turning  over  a  new  page  in  her  won- 
derful history,  a  page  that  is  to  make  known  her  re- 
markable entrance  into  the  Kingdom  and  the  joy  of 
our  Lord.  Already  half  a  million  souls  are  con- 
nected with  the  Protestant  missionary  community  in 
that  land.  Hostility  is  found  on  all  sides ;  but  the 
sturdy  Chinese  Christians  face  every  opposition  with 
heroic  faith  and  are  prepared  equally  for  the  altar  of 
sacrifice  and  for  the  yoke  of  service.  The  mission- 
aries of  no  land  are  more  enthusiastic  about  their 
converts  than  are  those  of  China  ;  and  all  who  well 
know  that  land  and  people  bear  united  testimony  to 
the  fact  that  the  Christian  man  and  woman  of  China 
are  to  have  a  great  place  and  a  growing  importance 
in  the  coming  progress  and  future  destiny  of  our 
race. 

Or,  if  we  look  at  that  still  stronger  fortress  of 
heathenism  in  India,  we  find  the  same  encourage- 
ment, the  same  definite  signs  of  progress,  and  the 
same  ingathering  of  souls  into  the  Kingdom  of  God. 


0 


196        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Nearly  3,500,000  bear  the  name  of  Christ  in  that 
peninsula  at  the  present  time  ;  and  1,472,448  of  these 
are  connected  with  Protestant  mission  work.  This 
number  is  increasing  rapidly.  During  the  last  dec- 
ade, we  are  informed  by  the  census  of  India,  more 
than  sixty  per  cent,  was  added  to  our  Protestant 
community.  Mass  movements  are  multiplying  with 
increasing  momentum.  These  will  carry  the  mil- 
^,  lions  of  India,  more  rapidly  that  we  realize,  into  the 
j        Christian  fold. 

Turn  where  we  may,  we  are  cheered  by  evidences 
of  what  the  Lord  has  wrought  among  all  the  non- 
Christian  peoples  of  the  earth  in  modern  times  ;  and 
we  have  a  thousand  assurances  that  the  twentieth 
century  is  to  witness  an  ingathering  of  souls  which 
will  far  exceed  even  the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  the 
Christian  Church.  According  to  the  present  increase, 
four  hundred  and  fifty  souls  are  added  daily  to  the 
Christian  community  in  those  lands,  and  the  ratio  of 
increase  is  advancing  beyond  anything  that  the  mis- 
sionaries of  fifty  years  ago  dreamed  of. 


II 

It  is  important  to  remember  not  only  the  intrinsic 
value  of  the  souls  of  these  millions  who  have  been 
saved  from  heathenism,  but  also  the  wonders  which 
have  been  wrought  in  them  through  their  change  of 
faith.  With  the  exception  of  Japan,  the  ingathering 
into  the  Christian  community  on  mission  fields  has 
been,  to  a  very  large  extent,  from  the  lowest  strata 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         197 

in  society.  In  China,  and  especially  in  India,  the 
vast  majority  of  converts  have  been  taken  from  "the 
submerged  tenth."  Comparing  the  members  of  the 
Christian  community  with  those  non-Christian  peo- 
ple from  whom  they  were  gathered,  it  can  be  easily 
seen  that  Christianity  has  marvellously  improved 
their  condition.  It  has  broadened  their  outlook ;  it 
has  taken  away  from  them  the  great  burden  of  their 
ancient  social  disabilities,  loosened  their  fetters,  be- 
stowed upon  them  a  new  liberty  of  soul,  and  breathed 
into  them  an  ambition  such  as  they  never  dreamed 
of  in  their  former  faith. 

Educationally,  Christianity  has  conferred  upon  its 
converts  a  large  blessing.  As  the  religion  of  light  it 
must  impart  intelligence  and  culture  and  cannot  af- 
ford to  hold  its  people  in  ignorance.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  of  the  very  essence  of  the  Hindu  faith  that 
it  keep  its  people  grovelling  in  darkness.  It  has  dis- 
couraged the  education  of  woman.  A  concensus  of 
the  opinion  of  its  lawgivers  and  leaders  has  always 
been  against  the  granting  to  her  of  the  blessings  of 
learning.  Thus  has  it  treated  the  common  people 
also.  Beyond  the  select  few,  the  aristocrats  of  learn- 
ing, the  people,  deliberately  and  of  design,  have 
been  held  in  the  darkness  of  ignorance.  When  the 
Protestant  faith  laid  its  hand  upon  the  people  of  all 
mission  fields,  one  of  its  first  duties  was  to  build  a 
schoolhouse  and  to  train  the  Christian  schoolmaster, 
that  he  might  broaden  the  mind  and  impart  the 
blessings  of  education  to  the  Christian  community. 
These  people  have  wonderfully  responded  to  these 


198        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

new  opportunities.  The  fruitage  of  this  work  is 
more  manifest  in  older  mission  fields,  where  it  has 
progressed  for  nearly  a  century.  In  India,  for  in- 
stance, it  has  left  a  marked  impression  upon  the 
community.  Out  of  their  former  condition,  in  which 
perhaps  not  more  than  three  per  cent,  were  literate, 
the  Christians  of  India  have  been  raised,  education- 
ally, to  a  position  perhaps  higher  than  any  others  in 
the  country.  Even  the  Brahmans,  who  are  the  cul- 
tured elite,  are  hardly  in  advance  of  these  same 
Christians,  when  we  have  reference  to  the  combined 
education  of  man  and  woman.  In  the  mission  to 
which  I  belong,  thirty- five  per  cent,  of  the  21,276 
members  of  the  community  are  literate  ;  whereas,  the 
communities  from  which  they  have  hailed  hardly  fur- 
nish more  than  three  per  cent,  who  are  in  any  sense 
literate.  In  the  district  of  Tinnevelly,  in  South  India, 
a  remarkable  change  has  come  over  the  community 
during  the  last  centur)^  Its  members  were  taken 
from  the  lowest  depths  of  heathenism.  Their  condi- 
tion was  educationally  abject  and  hopeless.  At  the 
present  time,  however,  that  flourishing  Christian 
community  surpasses,  in  culture,  any  other  commu- 
nity in  the  whole  district,  if  not  in  the  country.  It 
has  its  colleges  for  men  and  women,  its  high  schools, 
normal  and  theological  institutions,  its  boarding- 
schools  and  a  large  number  of  primary  institutions 
scattered  all  over  the  district.  By  means  of  these, 
the  people  have  risen  to  a  condition  of  remarkable 
intelligence.  University  graduates  abound,  and  this 
furnishes  Christian  leaders  and  men  for  highest  posi- 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         199 

tions  of  government  and  for  other  important  posts  of 
trust  and  of  emolument. 

The  Christian  community  in  India  is  now  gener- 
ally recognized  as  being  inspired  by  loftier  educa- 
tional ideals  than  any  other  community  in  the  land. 
It  has  its  newspapers,  its  various  associations,  and 
other  organizations  for  its  best  conservation  and 
highest  advancement. 

We  have  seen  what  our  missionary  institutions 
have  achieved  in  Turkey  for  the  advancement  of  that 
people.  Its  colleges  and  many  other  institutions  of 
learning,  headed  by  Robert  College,  in  Constanti- 
nople, and  by  the  Beirut  College,  in  Syria,  are  said 
to  have  done  more  towards  creating  the  recent  revo- 
lution in  that  land  than  any  other  agency  or  combi- 
nation of  agencies.  And  the  Christian  men  and 
women  of  Turkey,  because  of  their  higher  training, 
are  having,  more  and  more,  a  commanding  influence 
in  the  solution  of  national  problems. 

Even  the  '*  Ethiopian  Movement"  in  Africa,  with 
its  cry  of  '*  Africa  for  the  Africans,"  though  wanting 
in  sanity  and  wise  leadership,  is  nevertheless  indica- 
tive of  a  growing  restless  manhood,  struggling  for 
independence  and  eager  to  control  and  direct  its  own 
affairs.  The  spirit  of  our  faith  is  as  a  leaven  working 
among  the  poor  blacks  of  Africa. 

In  character,  also,  these  Christian  converts  are 
distinguished  in  their  own  community.  There  is 
marked  advance  among  the  people  who  have  come 
into  Christian  life,  and  are  inspired  by  the  influence 
of  the  Christian  community.     They  reveal  the  spirit 


200        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

of  progress  in  character  beyond  anything  known  in 
the  community  around  them.  A  worker  in  China 
writes, — "  It  is  a  marked  characteristic  of  the  Chris- 
tians that  they  cease  from  foul  speech.  I  have  been 
told  by  the  Chinese  that  one  can  often  know  a  man 
to  be  a  Christian  simply  by  the  purity  of  his  conver- 
sation." From  North  Africa  one  writes, — "There 
has  come  to  be  a  general  respect  for  the  life  of  the 
Christians  on  the  part  of  the  non-Christian  popula- 
tion. The  former  are  acknowledged  to  be,  in  the 
main,  much  more  honest,  pure,  sincere,  and  morally 
correct  than  the  latter.  There  have  been  reported 
instances  where  the  word  of  a  Christian  witness  in 
court  has  been  accepted  by  Moslem  judges  with  the 
statement  that  the  word  of  a  Christian  was  accept- 
able on  its  face." 

I  can  bear  testimony  to  the  same  condition  of 
things  in  India,  especially  among  the  older  Christian 
communities. 

Their  conscience  is  touched  and  the  develop- 
ment of  a  distinctive  Christian  character  is  manifest. 

More  especially,  in  deep  religious  sentiments  and 
in  the  cultivation  of  a  spiritual  life,  they  reveal  re- 
markable aptitude  and  present  to  the  Christian  com- 
munity in  the  West  a  beautiful  example  in  the  sim- 
plicity of  their  faith  and  in  the  earnest  yearning  of 
their  souls  after  communion  with  God.  As  com- 
pared with  the  West,  the  East  reveals  more  weak- 
ness in  the  stern  elements  of  character,  but  greater 
beauty  in  the  intensity  of  its  religious  passion  and 
its  pious  aspirations. 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs        201 

These  Christian  people  are  also  possessed  of  deep 
convictions  which  they  reveal  in  their  adherence  to 
their  new  faith.  It  is  only  in  the  West  that  the  ex- 
pression "  rice  Christians  "  has  found  vogue.  There 
are  doubtless  as  many  **  bread  Christians "  in  the 
West  as  there  are  *'  rice  Christians  "  in  the  East.  If 
the  motives  of  our  new  converts  in  non-Christian 
lands  are  not  always  of  the  highest,  if  all  have  not 
entered  our  faith  under  the  influence  of  the  noblest 
purposes  and  spiritual  aspirations  ;  they  certainly 
have  come  to  stay,  and  fewer  of  them  return  to  their 
old  faith  than  one  would  expect.  The  persecutions 
which  they  endure  are  often  of  the  severest  and  most 
aggravating  type ;  yet  there  are  few  who  have 
abandoned  our  faith  under  the  stress  of  persecution. 
Many  suffer  all  things  for  the  sake  of  Christ ;  they 
are  deprived  of  their  rights,  are  out-banned  by  so- 
ciety, pursued  by  a  vindictive  caste  spirit  and  by  the 
combined  hostility  of  many  in  power.  They  stand 
all  this  with  infinite  patience  and  with  a  firmness  and 
a  sweetness  of  spirit  that  is  a  revelation  and  a  joy  to 
those  who  are  their  leaders.  Yes,  the  people  of  the 
East,  when  they  have  discovered  a  religion  with 
which  they  are  satisfied,  are  usually  true  to  it. 
They  are  not  of  the  kind  to  fight  for  it;  but 
they  are  marvellous  in  their  patient  endurance 
under  the  utmost  strain  of  persecution  in  behalf 
of  their  convictions.  And  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  day  of  persecution  has  not  yet  disap- 
peared in  non-Christian  lands  ;  the  combined  re- 
sources   of    the    ancestral    faiths    and    of  the  evil 


202        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

one  are  still  brought  to  bear  upon  these  poor  con- 
verts. 

I  know  of  nothing  which  stands  more  eminent 
among  the  triumphs  of  our  religion  in  these  far-ofi 
lands  than  the  glorious  record  of  martyrdom  which 
the  last  few  years  have  furnished  in  some  of  these 
countries.  All  are  only  too  familiar  with  the  Boxer 
difhculties  in  China,  and  the  thousands  of  noble 
Christians  who  surrendered  their  lives  rather  than 
deny  their  faith  and  their  Lord  in  that  great  time  of 
testing.  I  question  whether,  if  the  same  persecution 
happened  in  the  West  to-day,  we  could  find  so  large 
a  proportion  of  our  Christian  men  and  women  as 
China  found  among  its  humble  converts,  ready  to 
test  the  sincerity  of  their  faith  by  their  life-blood. 

More  recently  still  those  noble  pastors  and  others, 
in  Turkey,  gave  witness  to  their  faith  by  their  death 
in  a  way  which  brought  a  thrill  of  pride,  as  it  did  a 
shudder  of  horror,  to  all  their  brethren  in  the  West. 

It  was  not  long  ago  that  the  island  of  Madagascar, 
which  had  been  a  scene  of  such  thrilling  missionary 
progress  and  achievement,  became  a  centre  of  ter- 
rible persecution,  through  which  the  roll  of  the 
martyred  host  received  many  additions. 

These  events  have  happened  from  time  to  time ; 
and  they  will  continue  to  happen  until  these  non- 
Christian  countries  shall  accept  Christ.  And  they 
will  be  repeated  in  a  way  to  show  to  the  world  that 
the  Christian  converts  of  to-day  are  men  and  women 
of  conviction,  who  are  worthy  of  our  absolute  confi- 
dence, as  they  have  been  worthy  of  our  highest  en- 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         203 

deavour  for  their  salvation.  The  martyred  host  of 
mission  fields  represents  the  brightest  and  the  best 
crown  of  the  missionary  enterprise  of  the  Church  of 
God. 

Ill 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  refer  to  a  few  of  the  dis- 
tinguished names  of  those  who  have  revealed  power 
and  have  brought  rich  blessings  to  their  countrymen 
through  these  missions. 

Africa  has  had  not  a  few  such.  In  the  earliest 
days  of  Moffat,  nearly  a  century  ago,  Africaner,  a 
Hottentot  chief,  was  an  outlaw  and  a  desperado  for 
whom  (dead  or  alive)  the  government  of  Cape  Town 
offered  $500  reward.  Later  he  was  brought  under 
the  influence  of  that  noble  man  of  God.  Through 
him  the  gospel  message  was  preached  to,  and  tri- 
umphed over,  the  chief.  After  his  conversion  he 
revealed  a  newness  of  life  and  a  beauty  of  character 
which  astounded  all  who  came  into  contact  with 
him.  His  dying  words  to  his  own  people  were, — 
*'  We  are  not  what  we  were — savages— ^but  men, 
professing  to  be  taught  according  to  the  Gospel. 
Let  us  then  do  accordingly.  My  former  life  is 
stained  with  blood,  but  Jesus  Christ  has  pardoned 
me.  Beware  of  falling  into  the.  same  evils  into  which 
I  have  frequently  led  you.  Seek  God,  and  He  will 
be  found  of  you  to  direct  you." 

Bishop  Crowther  was  a  negro  slave,  captured  in 
the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  traded  for  a 
horse,  consigned  to  a  Portuguese  slave  ship,  liber- 


204        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

ated  by  an  English  man-of-war,  then  educated  in  a 
mission  school,  after  which  his  education  was  com- 
pleted in  England.  He  was  then  sent  to  his  own 
people  as  a  missionary.  He  was  a  man  distin- 
guished for  his  piety  and  character  and  was  subse- 
quently consecrated  as  a  bishop  of  Niger,  and  had  a 
most  distinguished  missionary  career  among  his  own 
people  in  building  up  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

China  has  had  her  men  of  piety  and  power  among 
her  Christians.  Dr.  Li,  Pastor  Hsi,  and  many  others 
like  them,  revealed  the  sterling  worth  of  the  China- 
man when  thoroughly  imbued  with  Christian  princi- 
ples and  possessed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  reveal- 
ing the  glories  of,  and  in  propagating,  our  faith. 

Japan  has  been  more  fortunate  than  other  lands  in 
the  relative  number  of  men  of  distinction  who  have 
been  and  are  members  of  the  Christian  community 
there.  One  at  once  naturally  thinks  of  Joseph 
Neesima,  the  founder  of  the  Dosisha.  Neesima's 
conversion,  his  subsequent  life  of  faith  and  his  career 
of  usefulness  and  power  have  been  written  by  more 
than  one  person.  His  history,  in  itself,  is  one  of  the 
marvellous  narratives  of  God's  grace  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  He  was  a  remarkable  man  in  many 
ways,  but  in  none  more  than  in  his  absolute  devo- 
tion to  his  Lord,  and  in  the  supreme  dedication  of 
his  life  to  the  work  of  educating  his  young  country- 
men in  the  deepest  principles  of  our  faith.  He  was 
a  mighty  man  of  prayer.  His  name  and  his  influ- 
ence are  an  inspiration  all  over  Japan. 

Another  man,  equally  distinguished  for  his  piety 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs        205 

and  noble  Christian  altruism,  is  Mr.  J.  Ishii,  the 
founder  of  the  Okayama  Orphanage.  He  was 
inspired  by  the  example  of  George  MuUer  and 
conceived  the  idea  of  duplicating,  in  Japan,  the  work 
of  that  wonderful  man  of  faith  and  prayer.  He  is 
sustained  by  a  deep  and  absolute  confidence  in  God 
as  the  hearer  of  prayer.  He  not  only  prayed  that 
orphanage  into  being  ;  but,  for  the  last  twenty-three 
years,  has  supported  it  and  has  inspired  his  co-la- 
bourers by  his  prayer  of  faith.  At  the  present  time 
hundreds  of  orphans  are  being  cared  for  by  his  institu- 
tion, and  many  have  been  brought  to  Christ  through 
it. 

There  are  many  others  of  like  spirit,  in  Japan,  who 
are  identified  with  Christianity.  Of  these  Dr.  Otis 
Cary  writes, — "  If  we  should  learn  that  the  Speaker 
of  our  national  House  of  Representatives  had  ac- 
cepted some  belief  that  is  despised  or  hated  by  most 
of  his  countrymen,  should  we  speak  of  him  as  one  of 
the  lowest  classes  who  had  been  influenced  by  hope 
of  personal  gain?  The  presiding  officer  of  the 
Lower  House  in  the  first  Japanese  Parliament,  which 
met  in  1890,  was  a  Christian.  The  one  who  held 
the  same  position  from  1898,  until  his  death  in  1903, 
was  an  elder  in  a  Presbyterian  church.  He  had 
been  a  member  of  every  Parliament  from  the  begin- 
ning. When  he  was  first  nominated  some  of  his 
political  friends  came  to  him,  saying,  *  You  hold  a 
prominent  place  among  the  Christians,  and  our  op- 
ponents will  use  the  fact  against  you.  Of  course,  we 
cannot  ask  you  to  give  up  your  religion ;  but  we  do 


2o6        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

wish  you  to  resign  your  eldership.  After  being 
elected,  you  could  resume  the  office,  but  it  is  neces- 
sary for  you  to  lay  it  aside  for  a  time.'  *No,* 
answered  Mr.  Kataoka,  '  I  would  rather  lose  my 
chance  of  going  to  Parliament  than  give  up  my 
office  in  the  church.'  If  we  heard  that  the  Chiet 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
had  become  the  follower  of  some  despised  religion, 
should  we  say  that  he  is  another  of  the  lowest 
classes  who  has  been  led  by  the  hope  of  personal 
gain  ?  One  who  for  some  time  held  the  correspond- 
ing position  in  Japan  is  a  Christian  who  did  not  hide 
his  religion  and  who  finally  resigned  his  high  office 
because  certain  things  occurring  in  connection  with 
judicial  affairs  were  contrary  to  his  ideas  of  right 
Mention  might  be  made  of  many  more — judges, 
legislators,  ex-daimyos,  officers  in  army  or  navy, 
lawyers,  physicians,  merchants,  editors,  and  other 
well-known  men — the  list  proving  the  gross  igno- 
rance displayed  by  the  remarks  of  those  who  hate 
missions  or  do  not  take  the  trouble  to  learn  the  truth 
about  them."  ^ 

One  cannot  close  this  list  of  worthies  in  Japan 
without  mentioning  Bishop  Honda,  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  Dr.  Harada  who  recently  received  his 
doctorate  from  the  Edinburgh  University,  and  who 
is  such  a  worthy  successor  to  the  sainted  Neesima,  as 
the  President  of  the  Dosisha. 

It  is  difficult  to  select  a  few  from  the  many  men 
and  women  who  have  added  lustre  to  our  cause  in 

1  ««  Japan,"  p.  117. 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs        207 

India.  Thousands  might  be  named  who  have  re- 
flected glory  upon  our  faith.  Pundita  Ramabai  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable,  both  in  her  character, 
her  history  and  in  the  work  which  she  is  accomplish- 
ing. She  was  the  daughter  of  a.  Brahman  gentle- 
man who  ignored  and  antagonized  the  traditions 
of  his  country  by  giving  his  bright  daughter  a 
thorough  education  in  the  Sanscrit  tongue  and  in  the 
writings  of  his  faith.  She  was  married  and  early 
lost  her  husband  and  fell  under  the  curse  of  widow- 
hood in  India.  She  knew,  by  bitter  experience,  the 
cruel  injustice  of  her  ancestral  faith  to  the  poor 
widow  who  most  needed  its  help  and  sympathy. 
She  came  into  touch  with  missionaries  and  travelled 
to  England  and  America.  Under  the  influence  of 
God's  Spirit  she  was  led  into  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  and  entered  into  the  joys  and  conviction  of  a 
Christian  life.  Her  heart  yearned  for  the  unfortunate 
young  widows  of  India  and  she  is  giving  herself  to 
the  work  of  bringing  succour  and  comfort  and  life  to 
such.  At  Mukti,  in  the  Presidency  of  Bombay,  she 
has  for  years  conducted  a  splendid  work  for  thou- 
sands of  these  poor,  benighted,  downtrodden  young 
sisters,  and  has  done  great  things  for  their  regenera- 
tion and  uplift.  Her  task  is  one  of  pure  philanthropy 
inspired  by  Christian  impulse.  .Hundreds  have  been 
brought  to  Christ  through  her  influence,  and  thou- 
sands have  been  saved  from  the  cruelty  and  degra- 
dation which  is  inseparable  from  widowhood  in 
India. 

Another  Indian  woman  of  distinction  and  useful- 


2o8        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

ness  is  Miss  Cornelia  Sorabji,  the  daughter  of  a 
Parsee  Christian  convert,  and  a  member  of  a  very 
distinguished  family  of  seven  brothers  and  sisters. 
She  has  given  herself  to  the  relief  and  elevation  of 
her  suffering  sisters  in  India  by  means  of  the  prac- 
tice of  law.  She  is  the  first  woman  of  India  to  enter 
that  profession ;  and  there  is  a  growing  conviction 
that  she  is  one  of  the  accomplished  legal  representa- 
tives of  that  land. 

Among  the  men  of  India  there  are  many  who  have 
adorned  our  faith.  Kali  Charran  Banner]  ee  is  per- 
haps one  of  the  most  distinguished.  He  was  a 
celebrated  lawyer  and  orator  and  a  most  devoted 
Christian  worker.  So  enthusiastic  was  he  in  his 
Christian  life  and  service  that  it  became  his  custom, 
with  his  sons,  to  preach  daily  to  Hindus  in  the 
public  park  or  maidan,  of  Calcutta.  He  was  a  man 
of  learning  and  of  great  eloquence.  But  all  his 
talents  were  laid  upon  the  altar  of  Christ  and  he  was 
always  and  everywhere  a  man  of  deep  spiritual  life 
and  a  profound  advocate  of  our  faith. 

In  South  India  all  lament  the  recent  untimely 
death  of  Prof.  S.  Sattianathan,  LL.  D.,  who  was  not 
only  distinguished  as  a  scholar  and  a  philosopher, 
but  whose  charming  Christian  spirit  and  example 
were  contagious.  His  second  wife,  the  daughter  of 
a  distinguished  Brahman  convert,  is  no  less  favour- 
ably known  than  her  lamented  husband.  Her  suc- 
cess in  founding  and  editing  the  hidiaii  Ladies^ 
Journal  has  been  marked.  She  gave  to  the 
magazine,  from  the  first,  a  unique  place  for  bright- 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         209 

ness  and  artistic  finish,  among  all  the  English 
magazines  prepared  and  published  by  Indians. 

What  shall  I  say  of  that  too  rare  type  of  Chris- 
tian in  India,  Sir  Harnam  Singh — a  prince  of  the 
royal  house  of  the  Punjab,  and  a  man  who  well 
represents  our  faith  by  his  life  ? 

Among  church  leaders  we  have  such  worthy 
names  as  Dr.  Chatterjee  of  Punjab,  himself  a  Brah- 
man convert  and  a  noble  Christian  leader ;  K.  M. 
Bannerjee,  the  Christian  philosopher ;  Rev.  Maulvie 
Imaduddin,  D.  D.,  formerly  a  distinguished  Mo- 
hammedan and  afterwards,  until  his  death,  a  noble 
pastor  and  controversial  writer;  Father  Goreh,  the 
well-known  Christian  ascetic,  who  revealed,  to  a  re- 
markable degree,  the  oriental  type  of  piety  trans- 
muted into  a  beautiful  Christian  life. 

Many  others  are  worthy  of  mention  in  all  these 
non-Christian  countries — men  and  women  of  whom 
the  world  is  not  worthy  and  whose  conversion  to 
our  faith  is  not  only  one  of  its  grandest  triumphs, 
but  also  reveals  the  splendid  interest  which  accrues 
upon  the  investment  of  life  or  of  money  in  the  mis- 
sionary cause. 

Benjamin  Harrison,  ex- President  of  the  United 
States,  when  presiding  at  the  great  Ecumenical  Mis- 
sionary Conference  in  New  York  tity,  a  decade  ago, 
remarked  that  if  he  had  had  a  million  dollars  and  had 
invested  all  of  it  in  foreign  missions,  and  that  if  the 
only  result  of  the  investment  had  been  the  conver- 
sion of  the  lady  who  sat  near  him  on  the  platform  at 
that  time  (Miss  Lilivat  Singh  of  Lucknow,  India), 


210        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

he  would  have  regarded  the  investment  as  having 
been  well  made !  There  is  hardly  one  among  the 
20,000  missionaries  now  labouring  in  mission  fields, 
who  could  not  point  to  individuals  in  his  or  her  own 
field  whose  salvation  from  sin  and  heathenism  and 
whose  transformed  life  and  self-denying  noble  Chris- 
tian service  infinitely  exceeded,  in  actual  value  and 
in  spiritual  potentiality,  the  paltry  annual  investment 
of  twenty  million  dollars  on  the  part  of  Protestant 
Christians.  How  inadequate  is  the  sordid,. or  even 
the  consecrated,  wealth  of  the  Church  as  a  test  and 
measure  of  the  spiritual  value  of  missions ! 

IV 

Consider  also  the  broader  aspects  of  the  coming  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  in  those  far-off  lands. 

The  Church  is  growing  like  a  banyan  tree ;  as  it 
reaches  out  its  branches  it  causes  its  pendant  roots 
to  descend  into  the  soil  of  the  life  of  many  peoples 
and  brings  nourishment  and  strength  to  millions. 
More  than  this,  the  leaven  of  the  Kingdom  is  busily 
transforming  life  and  institutions  even  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  the  Church.  The  Christian  ideal 
wonderfully  reveals  itself  in  movements  and  in  insti- 
tutions everywhere. 

The  Young  Turk  movement  is  opposed  by  ortho- 
dox. Mohammedans  in  that  land,  because  it  is,  as 
they  claim,  rather  Christian  than  Mohammedan  in 
its  spirit.  They  understand  that  its  progressive, 
liberal  sentiments  are  fundamentally  opposed  to  the 
Islam  faith.     This  is  perfectly  true.     The  progress 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         211 

of  Turkey,  during  the  last  few  years,  is  the  natural 
result  of  missionary  endeavour  in  that  land,  rather 
than  the  product  of  Mohammedan  sentiments. 

Many  Japanese  endeavour  earnestly  to  prove  that 
modern  Japan  is  a  normal  development  of  the  Japan 
that  used  to  be.  Recently  I  listened  to  a  lecture  by 
one  of  the  leading  exponents  of  modern  Japan,  in 
which  he  vainly  tried  to  prove  that  what  we  now 
see,  in  the  stirring  changes  of  that  country,  is  the 
natural  outcome  of  ancient  Japanese  principles. 
Such  a  patriotic  attempt  to  defend  the  old  Japan  is 
amusing.  Far  more  true  is  the  statement  of  Dr. 
Harada,  that  modern  Japan  has  been  made  possible 
only  by  her  openness  to  receive  much  that  is  best  in 
Western  lands  both  in  their  civilization  and  thought. 
Dr.  DeForest  correctly  reveals  the  situation  when 
he  says, — "That  the  government  of  Japan,  the  laws, 
the  courts,  education,  and  the  family  are  being 
formed  on  Christian  principles  that  recognize  the 
worth  and  dignity  of  every  man,  woman  and  child  ; 
that  the  worship  of  sun  and  moon  has  virtually 
ceased  ;  that  the  grosser  forms  of  idolatry  have  been 
abandoned  ;  that  the  moral  teachings  of  Christ  have 
become  a  part  of  the  ethical  treasures  of  the  people ; 
that  the  *  friends  of  Christianity '  number  far  more 
than  its  open  professors ;  that  Christian  thought  has 
affected  the  old  religions  to  a  remarkable  extent ; 
we  need  not  hesitate  to  say  that,  in  spite  of  the 
traces  of  heathenism  that  remain,  no  other  nation 
has  ever  been  so  rapidly  permeated  with  Christian 
knowledge  as  has  Japan.     There  never  has  been,  in 


212        I'he  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

all  the  history  of  missions,  so  great  a  victory  for 
Christ  in  so  short  a  time  as  we  see  to-day  in  that 
beautiful  island  empire.  There  never  was  a  non- 
Christian  nation  so  open-minded  and  receptive  as 
Japan."  ' 

The  new  adjustment  which  is  taking  place  in 
China  is  very  striking  in  many  respects. 

The  most  remarkable  thing  about  it,  however,  is 
that  the  eye  of  China  is  upon  the  West.  She  is 
adopting  many  things  which  are  essentially  Chris- 
tian in  their  spirit  and  outlook.  Nothing  reveals 
this  so  markedly  as  her  sending  to"  the  West 
hundreds  of  her  brightest  young  men  to  receive  an 
education  on  Western  lines  and  to  imbibe  Western, 
that  is  Christian,  ideas  and  ideals  of  life,  which  they 
are  to  bring  back  to  their  homes  and  to  utilize  in 
building  up  a  new  China.  It  is  significant  that 
many  of  the  leading  men  of  China  have  imbibed 
more  or  less  of  these  Christian  principles ;  and  the 
value  of  these  ideas,  in  the  task  of  building  up  a 
new  China,  is  being  increasingly  appreciated  by 
many  of  the  best  men  of  thought  in  that  land. 

In  India,  we  would  expect  a  greater  infusion  of 
Christian  thought  and  sentiment  in  the  ruHng 
classes ;  because  India  is  under  a  Western  govern- 
ment and  is  largely  directed  by  Western  forces. 
Even  the  new  political  aspirations  of  India  are  defi- 
nitely Christian.  Neither  Hindu  thought  nor  relig- 
ious life  have  the  remotest  connection  with  the  un- 
rest  of   India   to-day.     Rather   do   they   make   for 

1 « Sunrise  in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom,"  p.  203. 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs        2 1 3 

quiet  and  rest.  They  do  not  foster  new  ambitions  or 
stir  the  people  to  larger  aspirations.  There  is  noth- 
ing in  the  teaching  of  Hinduism  which  encourages 
manly  independence,  which  makes  for  human  liberty, 
or  which  leads  the  people  to  demand  political  rights 
and  social  equality.  All  these  are  definitely  Chris- 
tian in  their  origin  and  trend  ;  and  the  best  people  of 
India  realize  this  fact.  Modern  India  is  awaking 
from  its  sleepy  past  because  it  is  stirred,  uncon- 
sciously, it  may  be,  by  the  new  visions  of  blessing 
and  of  power  which  Christianity  has  placed  before  it. 

There  is  a  Social  Reform  Society  in  India.  It  has 
achieved  much,  during  the  last  few  years,  in  the  dis- 
semination of  a  desire  for  social  progress  in  that 
land.  But  the  movement  is  constantly  suspected,  by 
all  orthodox  Hindus,  of  being  hostile  to  the  ancient 
faith  and  recreant  to  the  old  established  and  cherished 
customs  of  the  land.  The  leaders  of  this  movement 
are  mostly  men  who  have  been  trained  in  Christian 
institutions,  are  confessedly  imbued  with  Christian 
ideals,  and  are  seeking  for  their  beloved  land  the 
realization  of  these  ideals,  even  in  the  teeth  of 
orthodox  Hindu  opposition.  They  know  that  it 
will  overthrow  many  cherished  Hindu  institutions. 
There  is  no  modern  reform  movement  of  any  kind 
which  has  exercised  the  mind  of  India  which  has  not 
also  been  regarded  as  a  menace  to  the  ancient  faith 
of  the  country  and  as  a  hostile  encroachment  upon 
Christianity. 

In  that  land  they  are  now  patterning  after  Chris- 
tian societies  and  organizations.     They  have  "  Young 


214        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

Men's  Hindu  Associations  "  and  "  Hindu  Tract  So- 
cieties," and  various  other  organizations,  all  dupli- 
cates, in  their  way,  of  well-known  and  prosperous 
Christian  institutions. 

Mrs.  Annie  Besant,  that  erratic  woman  of  the  West, 
is  doing  not  a  little  to  introduce  some  of  her  own  in- 
herited Christian  ideas  into  Indian  life.  And  she  has 
not  the  sense  of  humour  adequate  to  enable  her  to 
realize  the  incongruity  between  such  methods  and 
institutions,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Hindu  faith 
upon  the  other.  She  recently  organized,  "within 
Hinduism,  a  society  which  she  calls, — "The  Sons 
and  the  Daughters  of  India."  This  is  the  first 
Hindu  society  of  the  kind  ever  established,  because 
it  is  the  first  altruistic  organization  and  call  to  service 
for  humanity  that  the  India  of  Hinduism  has  ever 
known.  She  is  vigorously  promoting  the  organiza- 
tion of  many  lodges  of  this  Order,  the  pledge  of 
which  reads  as  follows :  "I  promise  to  treat  as 
Brothers  Indians  of  every  religion  and  every  province, 
to  make  Service  the  dominant  Ideal  of  my  life,  and, 
therefore,  to  seek  the  public  good  before  personal 
advantage ;  to  protect  the  helpless,  defend  the  op- 
pressed, teach  the  ignorant,  raise  the  downtrodden ; 
to  choose  some  definite  line  of  public  usefulness,  and 
to  labour  thereon  ;  to  perform  every  day  at  least  one 
act  of  service ;  to  pursue  our  ideals  by  law-abiding 
methods  only ;  to  be  a  good  citizen  of  my  munici- 
pality or  district,  my  province,  the  Motherland,  and 
the  Empire.  To  all  this  I  pledge  myself,  in  the  pres- 
ence   of    the    Supreme   Lord,   to   our    Chief,   our 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs        215 

Brotherhood,  and  our  country,  that  I  may  be  a  true 
Son  of  India. 

"  May  the  One  Lord  of  the  Universe,  worshipped 
under  many  names,  pour  into  the  hearts  of  the 
Brothers  and  Sisters  of  this  Order,  and  through  them 
into  India,  the  Spirit  of  Unity  and  of  Service."  ^ 

No  one  who  understands  Hinduism  will,  for  a  mo- 
ment, fail  to  appreciate  how  absolutely  foreign  to 
that  religion  is  every  statement  in  this  pledge  and 
prayer.  It  breathes  of  the  spirit  of  Christ ;  and  no 
one  knows  this  better  than  Mrs.  Besant.  Perhaps 
the  Christian  missionary  should  be  the  last  one  to 
blame  her  for  this  endeavour  to  carry  these  new 
principles  and  to  inculcate  this  Christian  spirit  among 
those  who  are  in  the  fold  of  Hinduism. 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  those  Hindu  gentlemen, 
the  Yellow-robed  Swamis  of  India,  who  find  it  so 
profitable  and  agreeable  to  come  to  Western  lands  to 
expound  and  dilate  upon  their  oriental  philosophy 
and  religious  sentiment.  One  has  to  be  thoroughly 
conversant  with  India,  its  life  and  thought,  in  order 
to  realize  how  foreign  to  the  orthodox  teaching  of 
that  land  is  much  of  what  these  men  promulgate  in- 
the  West  to-day.  They  are  entirely  permeated  with 
Christian  truth  and  are  more  conversant  with  the 
Bible  than  they  are  with  their  o\vn  shastras.  Theirs 
is  a  thoroughly  Christianized  type  of  Hindu  thought. 
They  use  the  terminology  of  the  East,  to  a  large  ex- 
tent; but  it  is  expressed  in  a  Christian  form  and 
possesses    a    Christian    meaning,    which   orthodox 

1  See  Speer's  "  Christianity  and  the  Nations,"  p.  273. 


21 6        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Hindus  of  that  land  would  repudiate  at  once.  They 
may  be  Hindus,  but  they  speak  with  a  Christian  ac- 
cent, and  their  teaching  is  in  many  instances  a 
mongrel  between  Christian  and  Hindu  ideas. 

There  are  not  a  few  religious  movements  in  the 
East,  which  are  not  an  outgrowth  of  their  own  faiths, 
but  the  struggle  of  the  new  thought  to  express  itself 
within  the  limits,  and  in  the  form,  of  their  past 
thinking.  I  have  already  mentioned  the  new  relig- 
ion which  has  recently  come  into  vogue  in  Japan, 
which  is  neither  Buddhistic  nor  idolatrous  in  its 
character.  It  is  the  modern  attempt  to  adapt  their 
faith  to  the  new  conditions  of  life,  and  to  express  it  in 
a  way  which  will,  to  some  extent,  be  in  conformity 
with  Christian  conceptions. 

We  know  how  similar  movements  have  taken 
place  within  the  Mohammedan  faith  within  the  lands 
of  the  Nearer  East,  and  in  India.  These  are  reform 
movements  within  that  faith,  but  they  bear  the 
definite  impress  of  Christian  life. 

In  India,  the  most  striking  manifestation  of  Chris- 
tian sentiment  and  ideals,  expressed  outside  of  the 
Christian  faith,  is  the  Brahmo-Somaj  movement. 
The  leaders  of  that  eclectic  faith  were  men  thoroughly 
imbued  with  Christian  spirit.  They  were  absolutely 
enamoured  of  the  Christ.  In  unmeasured  terms 
they  expressed  their  admiration  of  and  love  to  Him. 
The  most  advanced  branch  of  that  movement.  The 
New  Dispensation,  was  largely  Christian  in  spirit, 
r:im  and  method.  It  copied  after  Christian  institu- 
tions, even  to  the  most  amusing  details.     The  con- 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs         217 

trolling  spirit  of  the  movement  was  devotion  to 
Christ,  even  though  they  did  not  recognize  Him  as 
Supreme  Deity. 

Other  movements,  in  that  country  have,  to  a  less 
degree,  revealed  the  same  tendency  to  adopt  Chris- 
tian truth,  even  though  they  mixed  it  largely  with 
the  teachings  of  other  faiths. 

If  one  should  express  all  these  in  the  terms  of  their 
source  and  tendency,  he  would  say  that  they  are  the 
growing  expression  of  the  Christ  ideal  in  the  East. 

The  personal  influence  of  our  Lord  in  those  coun- 
tries at  the  present  time  is,  without  doubt,  beyond 
what  any  one  realizes.  The  influence  of  Jesus,  es- 
pecially in  India,  less  markedly  in  Japan,  and 
other  Eastern  lands,  is,  beyond  doubt,  increasing  as- 
tonishingly, and  is  mighty,  if  not  dominant,  as  a  liv- 
ing force  and  a  spiritual  power  in  shaping  the  life 
ideals  and  in  forming  the  deep  spiritual  aspirations 
of  the  millions  of  those  lands.  Many  who  are  moved 
deeply  by  Him  may  never  have  heard  His  name ; 
but  the  institutions  and  the  teachings  of  their  land 
bear  some  of  the  impress  of  His  life  and  character, 
and  increasingly  breathe  His  spirit  and  reveal  His 
principles. 

This  influence  is  manifest  as  it  bears  upon  the  re- 
ligions of  those  countries.  It  is  wonderful  how  ex- 
tensively the  religions  of  India  are  **  in  the  melting 
pot "  under  the  growing  light  and  proximity  of 
Christianity.  They  are  increasingly  putting  on 
decency  and  respectability. 

Hinduism,  for  instance,  is  undergoing  rapid  trans- 


2l8        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

formation  at  the  present  time.  Not  a  few  of  its 
grossest  characteristics  of  the  past  are  being  lopped 
off,  and  others  are  being  gradually  changed,  so  as  to 
be  more  in  harmony  with  modern  ideas  and  de- 
mands. I  have  lived  there  long  enough  to  see  not  a 
few  such  changes  take  place  in  that  religion.  It  is 
an  interesting  fact  that,  during  the  last  year,  the 
Mysore  government  enacted  a  law  prohibiting  the 
use  of  *'  dancing  girls  "  in  connection  with  all  the 
Hindu  temples  of  the  kingdom.  This  is  a  serious 
blow,  by  an  orthodox  Hindu  government,  to  a  cher- 
ished institution  of  that  faith.  The  dancing  girl  is  a 
debased  reminder  of  the  old  **  vestal  virgin  "  of  the 
past.  In  infancy  these  girls  are  dedicated  in  mar- 
riage to  the  gods  and  to  temple  service.  Under  the 
cloak  of  relig^ion  and  through  its  sacred  rites  these 
innocent  children  are  thus  dedicated  to  a  life  of 
shame.  Their  own  mothers  and  the  priests  of  the 
temples  know  this  at  the  time  of  their  dedication. 
There  are  many  thousands  such  women  who  are  the 
public  prostitutes  of  the  land,  and  are  such  in  the 
name  of  that  religion,  with  its  sanction  and  bound  by 
its  decrees.  It  is  not  strange  that  the  best  men  of 
India  are  revolting  against  such  a  scandalous,  in- 
human and  accursed  system  within  their  faith.  And 
it  is  cheering  that  one  of  the  native  Hindu  States  of 
India  has  already  taken  this  definite  action  and  has 
prohibited  it  within  its  domain. 

A  similar  movement  is  now  afoot  among  the  mem- 
bers of  that  faith  in  reference  to  other  disabilities 
and  indignities  heaped  by  their  religion  upon  the 


Present  Day  Missionary  Triumphs        219 

womanhood  of  India.  The  day  is  not  far  hence 
when,  under  the  Hght  of  Christian  life  and  teachings, 
the  woman  of  India  shall  have  her  fetters  loosed,  her 
rights  maintained,  and  her  privilege  and  honour  rec- 
ognized by  that  religion. 

It  is  a  striking  fact  that  a  few  years  ago  the  teach- 
ings of  our  faith  were  not  regarded  as  true  in  India. 
At  the  present  time  the  attitude  is  so  changed  that 
they  claim  that  its  teachings  are  not  new.  That 
is,  what  was  thirty  years  ago  regarded  as  false  is  now 
recognized  as  a  part  of  eternal  truth  I  Then  they 
said  it  was  false  because  it  was  opposed  to  their  re- 
ligion. At  the  present  time,  however,  they  claim 
that  there  is  no  real  conflict  between  Christianity  and 
Hinduism  ;  that  the  teaching  of  the  former  was 
either  incipiently,  or  esoterically,  included  in  the  lat- 
ter I 

It  may  not  be  worth  while  for  the  Christian  in 
India,  or  in  any  part  of  the  East,  to  worry  because 
his  faith  lends  itself  thus  to  cleanse  and  to  purify  the 
ancestral  faiths  of  those  lands.  It  may  have  much 
to  do  in  that  line  before  it  will  so  commend  itself  as 
to  be  acceptable  to  the  populace  as  a  substitute  for 
their  faiths.  One  need  not  be  discouraged  in  the 
least  that  people,  instead  of  accepting  Christianity  at 
first,  should  be  trying  to  introduce  its  light  and  its 
blessing  into  their  own  religion.  This  latter  is  as 
truly  a  part  of  the  work  of  God's  Spirit  as  is  the 
former.  The  leaven  of  Christ's  life  and  truth  must 
work  outside  as  well  as  inside  the  Christian  Church. 
The   Kingdom  of  God  is  coming,  through  the  con- 


220        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

formity  of  non-Christian  religions  to  our  faith  in  some 
of  their  teachings  and  customs,  just  as  truly  as  it  is 
coming  through  the  full  acceptance  of  our  faith  by 
the  millions  of  those  lands  of  the  East. 


VII 

Present  Forces  and  Agencies  on  the  Mission 

Field 

THE  student  of  the  missionary  enterprise 
should  reaHze  where  we  are  at  the  present 
time  ;  what  has  been  achieved  during  the 
last  century  and  what  are  the  assets  of  the  missionary 
cause  at  the  beginning  of  this  new  century.  When 
America  began  its  missionary  work,  a  century  ago, 
it  had  to  build  up  everything  from  the  foundation. 
It  was  the  beginning  of  missionary  organizations  in 
our  country  ;  the  first  seed  must  be  sown  in  every 
field  ;  the  missionary  must  do  all  with  his  own  hands, 
and  the  Gospel  must  be  proclaimed  by  his  own 
voice.  Everything  was  accomplished  in  the  most 
primitive  way.  Missionary  appliances  and  agencies 
were  almost  non-existent. 

How  diflferent  the  situation  at  the  present  time ! 
There  are  now  a  thousand  forces,  institutions  and 
agencies  without  number,  which  are  ready  to  our 
hand,  and  well  equipped  for  the  great  service  in  the 
world's  redemption. 

I.  In  enumerating  these,  merition  should  first  be 
made  of  the  presence  and  the  power  of  God's  own 
Spirit  in  the  missionary  enterprise.  It  seems  super- 
fluous to  call  attention  to  the  Spirit  of  God  as  the 
Supreme  and  essential  Power  in  this  work.     He  is 

221 


222        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

the  spiritual  Dynamic  who  must  animate  all  who 
participate  in  it.  He  must  touch,  with  a  new  life,  all 
who  are  to  come  under  its  influence,  and  utilize 
every  institution,  and  control  every  instrument  which 
is  used.  In  the  multipUcity  of  our  organizations 
and  in  the  manifold  activities  of  modern  time,  as 
well  as  in  the  added  emphasis  given  to  our  obliga- 
tion to  convert  the  world,  there  is  danger  of  our 
forgetting  that  all  these  agencies  and  forces  are  but 
secondary  and  must  be  under  the  supreme  guidance 
and  inspiration  of  the  Spirit.  We  accentuate  the 
importance  of  pecuniary  means,  of  intellectual 
resources,  of  the  varied  human  forms  of  activity, 
and  we  minimize  the  necessity  and  the  urgency  of 
all  these  being  consecrated  to,  and  utilized  by,  the 
all-powerfvil  Spirit  of  God.  He  is  even  now  work- 
ing mightily  on  the  mission  field.  Not  one  country 
has  been  wanting  in  a  thousand  manifestations  of 
His  presence.  Revival  movements  have  been  in- 
spired and  directed  by  Him  in  all  these  lands. 

To  quote  my  own  words, — **  Revival  movements 
which  have  taken  place  during  the  last  few  years  in 
many  sections  of  India  attest  the  presence  and  the 
power  of  God's  Spirit  among  the  Christians.  The 
revival  influence  has  been  experienced  in  all  parts  of 
the  country.  In  the  mountains  of  Assam  it  has  been 
felt,  perhaps  more  strongly  than  in  any  other  part. 
Thousands  from  those  mountain  tribes  were  brought, 
in  a  marvellous  way,  into  the  Kingdom  ;  and  the 
Christians  throughout  that  whole  district  received  a 
remarkable  baptism  of  blessing  and  of  power.     In 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  223 

South  India  we  had,  at  many  centres,  most  convinc- 
ing evidence  of  His  quickening  work  in  our  churches 
and  congregations.  At  my  own  home,  at  Pasumalai, 
the  church  and  congregation  and  the  students  in  our 
institution  were  touched  with  the  new  Hfe  in  a  re- 
markable way.  Meetings  were  held  for  hours  at  a 
time,  where  the  Christians  wept  under  deep  convic- 
tion of  sin,  and  where  blessings  untold  were  enjoyed 
by  those  who  entered  into  the  fullness  of  the  Chris- 
tian life.  In  the  theological  seminary  there  was 
hardly  a  student  who  was  not  roused,  and  several 
received  a  blessing  which  will  multiply  a  hundred- 
fold in  the  lives  of  congregations  to  which  they  went 
forth  and  ministered.  In  North  India  it  brought,  in 
a  spedal  way,  a  powerful  inflow  of  joy  and  enthu- 
siasm to  the  missionaries  themselves,  many  of 
whom  were  transformed  into  men  and  women  of 
greater  efficiency  than  in  the  past.  On  the  west 
coast  of  India,  wonderful  scenes  were  witnessed  and 
extraordinary  confessions  of  sin  were  heard  among 
many  of  the  congregations. 

"  Formerly  it  was  customary  to  say  that  the  antece- 
dents of  Indians  were  such  that  they  never  could  be 
expected  to  experience  deep  conviction  of  sin.  But 
this  revival  wave  opened  our  eyes  to  our  error  in 
this  matter ;  for  never  before,  perhaps,  were  wilder 
scenes  of  agony  and  of  despair,  under  this  deep  con- 
viction, witnessed  among  any  people  than  were  seen 
during  these  revival  seasons  in  India.  The  only 
difference  was  in  the  fact  that  this  conviction  so 
enveloped  the  soul  and  so  appealed,  in  its  various 


224        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

forms,  to  the  oriental  mind  and  type  of  life  that  the 
doctrine  of  demoniacal  possession  received  a  new- 
impetus  and  a  new  form  in  the  minds  of  our  Indian 
Christians  who  witnessed  those  experiences  among 
their  friends  " 

In  Korea,  also,  this  power  has  often  been  felt. 
Rev.  J.  Z.  Moore  writes  that  '*  During  the  wonderful 
revival  that  shook  part  of  Korea  the  past  year,  until 
not  one  tile  remained  on  top  of  another  of  the  three- 
thousand-year-old  Devil  House,  the  thing  that  caused 
more  remarks  among  the  missionaries  than  anything 
else  was  the  wonderful  way  in  which  the  Koreans 
prayed  for  each  other  and  the  remarkable  answers 
to  these  prayers.  Early  one  morning,  as  I  was  going 
out  from  Chinnampo,  I  met  one  of  the  Christians 
coming  in.  They  were  having  a  week  of  prayer, 
and  as  he  had  pledged  himself  not  to  go  empty 
handed  he  had  been  out  to  a  near-by  village  get- 
ting his  man  for  the  night.  At  the  time  of  the 
women's  class  in  Pingyang,  women  who  had  received 
new  experiences  of  sin's  pardon  and  fullness  of  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  new  birth,  came  to  me  with  tears  plead- 
ing that  I  might  go  or  send  some  one  to  their  Church 
that  all  might  have  this  new  experience  and  live."  ^ 

At  many  points  in  China  and  Manchuria,  also, 
God's  Spirit  has  moved  mightily  in  the  quickening 
of  His  people.  The  Rev.  J.  Soforth,  of  Honan,  re- 
lates his  experiences  in  the  following  w^ords :  "  I 
went  to  Manchuria  and  in  several  different  centres 
God  showed  His  wonderful  power.     At  Mukden,  for 

1  Gale's  "  Korea  in  Transition,"  p.  190. 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  225 

example,  I  was  preaching  to  about  seven  hundred  or 
eight  hundred  people — men,  women  and  children.  I 
was  not  talking  in  any  excited  way  at  all.  God 
seemed  to  fill  the  temple.  I  saw  men  and  women  in 
an  agony  of  conviction.  I  never  expect,  on  this  side 
of  judgment  itself,  to  see  more  awful  conviction  for 
sin.  All  around  they  were  crying  out  and  confess- 
ing, and  the  noise  was  so  great  it  was  impossible  to 
hear  a  word  of  it. 

**  Then  at  Peking  the  university  students  had  de- 
cided that  this  was  all  of  man,  not  of  God,  and  they 
said,  *  When  he  comes  amongst  us  and  tri^s  to  work 
on  our  emotions,  we  won't  shed  any  tears,  nor  con- 
fess any  sins.'  ...  A  week  after  I  arrived  in 
London,  a  letter  from  Dr.  Pyke  reached  me.  He 
wrote  :  *  The  meetings  went  on  until  Thursday  after 
you  left,  and  God  broke  down  all  those  students. 
We  never  witnessed  such  a  scene  of  judgment' 

**  We  have  seen  God's  power  in  many  places,  and 
the  glory  of  the  whole  movement  is  this,  that  when- 
ever men  and  women  pass  through  these  meetings, 
they  are  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God  and  carry  the 
movement  everywhere.  I  have  been  to  points  in  but 
six  different  provinces,  but  this  movement  has  gone 
to  sixteen  of  the  provinces.  In  the  province  of 
Fukien,  last  May,  many  thousands  assembled  at 
Hing  Hus,  and  were  mightily  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost."  ^  One  of  the  great  needs  of  the  Church  is  a 
lively  sense  of  the  presence  and  power  of  the  divine 
Spirit  in  this  world-wide  enterprise  of  missions. 

1  Rochester  Convention  Report,  p.  231. 


226        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

2.  Consider  also  the  native  Church  and  Christian 
community. 

On  the  mission  fields  in  non-Christian  lands 
there  are  16,671  organized  churches,  connected  with 
which  there  are  1,925,205  communicants.  There  are 
also  3,006,373  baptized  Christians.  This  gives  a 
grand  total,  including  adherents,  of  5,281,871. 
What  an  impressive  ingathering  !  It  represents  not 
only  a  blessed  harvest  of  souls ;  it  represents  also 
a  wonderful  evangelizing  power  on  the  mission  field. 
Next  to  God's  Spirit  comes  His  incarnate  body — 
the  native  Church — as  a  dynamic  in  the  conver- 
sion of  the  non-Christian  world.  Who  can  realize 
what  a  resistless  power  and  agency  this  is  in  the 
world  conquest  which  we  seek  ?  In  older  mission 
fields  it  isi  already  the  mightiest  agency  in  making 
converts  to  our  cause. 

In  the  Battak  Mission,  we  are  told  that "  when  the 
candidates  are  asked  why  they  become  Christians, 
they  reply, — *  Because  others  have  become  Christians.' 
We  were  told  by  chiefs  of  a  heathen  province  that 
Mohammedans  had  come  to  persuade  them  to  ac- 
cept Islam.  But  they  answered, — *We  are  go- 
ing to  be  Christians.'  That  is  similar  to  what 
took  place  in  mediaeval  religions.  Religion  and 
change  of  religion  are  held  to  be  matters  for  the 
people  wherein  they  must  act  as  far  as  possible  to- 
gether." ' 

The  native  Church  Iwes  the  Gospel ;  it  is  an  ani- 
mated witness  to  the  beneficent  power  of  Christ  and 

1  J.  Warneck's  «*  The  Living  Christ,"  p.  277. 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  227 

His  Gospel.  **The  missionary  is  a  foreigner, 
brought  up  under  a  different  faith  and  influences, 
but  these  native  Christians  are  our  own  flesh  and 
were  brought  up  under  the  same  religious  influences 
as  ourselves  ;  see  how  they  live  and  prosper ! "  This 
is  an  unanswerable  argument  for  our  faith  among 
the  people. 

"In  many  of  the  greater  mission  fields  the  Chris- 
tian people  are  now  recognized  as  a  definite  com- 
munity whose  social  life  and  ideals,  as  well  as  their 
personal  faith  and  character,  are  already  becoming  a 
powerful  element  in  the  reshaping  of  national  life. 
They  are  everywhere  subjected  to  a  watchful  scrutiny 
on  the  part  of  the  non-Christian  communities,  and 
there  seems  to  be  a  general  acknowledgment  that 
the  life  thus  jealously  watched  affords  a  real  vindica- 
tion of  the  spiritual  power  of  the  religion  which  they 
profess." 

In  India,  three-fourths  of  the  converts  enter  the 
Christian  fold  through  the  influence,  and  under  the 
guidance,  of  native  Christians.  And  I  have  noticed 
that,  as  the  Christian  community  grows,  this  per 
centage  of  ingathering,  through  their  influence,  cor- 
respondingly increases. 

In  Korea,  where  "  the  entire  Church  is  a  mission- 
ary organization  '*  and  where  every  Christian  is  an 
aggressive  missionary,  the  greatness  of  this  influence 
may  be  realized,  so  that  one  does  not  wonder  that 
Korea  is  being  rapidly  Christianized. 

3.     The  Missionary  Force. 

Connected  with  the  three  hundred  and  thirty-eight 


228        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

missionary  societies,  of  which  one  hundred  and  seven 
are  in  the  United  States,  there  are,  — 


Ordained  missionaries 


Physicians  (men)    .... 
Physicians  (women)     .     .     . 
Lay  missionaries  (not  doctors) 
Married  women  (not  doctors) 
Unmarried  women  (not  doctors) 


5.522 
641 

341 
2,503 
5,406 
4,988 


Total 19,401 

This  is  certainly  a  large  army  of  men  and  women 
already  on  the  field  and  engaged  in  this  great  enter- 
prise. Yet  what  are  they  among  so  many  non-Chris- 
tian people  ?  They  are  only  one  to  every  50,000 
souls,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  number 
is  very  unevenly  distributed.  There  are  ccantries 
and  regions  of  many  million  souls  where  not  a  mis- 
sionary of  the  Cross  is  found. 

The  missionary  is  a  man  and  woman  of  thorough 
equipment  and  consecration.  Mr.  W.  T.  Ellis,  after 
a  world  tour  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  mis- 
sions, during  which  he  met  and  had  personal  inter- 
course with  many  hundreds  of  missionaries  in  all 
lands,  gives  his  impressions  of  them  in  his  bright 
and  brilliant  book,  "Men  and  Missions"  (p.  157). 
** As  a  clasSy'  he  says,  "the  missionary  body  out- 
ranks any  other  class  of  professional  persons  known 
to  me — preachers,  doctors,  teachers,  lawyers,  jour- 
nalists or  business  men.  In  point  of  native  ability, 
preparedness  and  fitness  for  their  work,  devotion  to 
their  mission,  diligence  and  resourcefulness  and  self- 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  229 

denial  in  its  prosecution,  and  of  broad  and  success- 
ful human  service  (which  is  the  test  by  which  all 
professions  must  be  judged),  the  missionaries  sur- 
pass all  other  workers  for  the  world!s  weal." 

The  London  Times  correspondent,  writing  from 
China,  says  of  the  missionaries, — ''They  are  the 
true  pioneers  of  civilization.  It  is  to  them  we  have 
to  look  to  carry  the  reputation  of  foreigners  into  the 
heart  of  the  country;  and  it  is  on  their  wisdom, 
justice,  and  power  of  sympathy  that  the  progress  of 
China  may  largely  depend." 

The  following  testimony  from  Dr.  Denby,  United 
States  Minister  to  China,  is  valuable, — '*  My  ac- 
quaintance with  the  missionaries  compels  me  to 
accord  them  high  praise.  In  1886  I  personally 
visited  nearly  every  missionary  station  on  the  sea- 
coast  of  China,  and  some  in  the  interior.  I  think  I 
can  testify  as  an  impartial  witness  in  their  behalf.  I 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  lives  of  the  mis- 
sionaries were  pure  ;  that  they  were  devoted  to  their 
work ;  that  they  made  many  converts,  and  that 
these  converts  were  morally,  mentally,  and  spirit- 
ually benefited  by  their  teachings." 

The  modern  missionary  is  an  up-to-date  man,  not 
of  the  antique  type  of  fifty  years  ago.  He  is  pos- 
sessed of  grace  and  piety  ;  but  it  is  not  of  the  intro- 
spective, mystical  or  ascetic  complexion.  He  is  a 
man  of  an  earthly  as  well  as  a  heavenly  vision.  As 
a  product  of  the  West  he  is  thoroughly  Western. 
He  is  better  trained,  with  a  broader  culture  and  a 
wider  outlook  upon  his  work  and  a  deeper  and  a 


230        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

more  accurate  knowledge  of  non-Christian  people 
and  their  faiths  than  his  predecessors,  of  a  genera- 
tion ago,  were.  He  is  as  consecrated  and  devoted 
to  his  work  as  the  missionaries  of  any  other  age ; 
but  he  is  also,  perhaps,  more  a  man  of  the  world 
than  they  were.  He  does  not  pose  as  a  martyr ;  nor 
does  he  lay  claim  to  superior  piety,  or  greater  self- 
denial  than  many  other  Christian  workers.  Facili- 
ties for  travel  have  increased  and  havie  brought  him 
into  touch  with  the  world.  And  the  amenities  of 
civilization  have  so  multiplied  as  to  remove  from 
him  most  of  the  old  disabilities  and  deprivations. 
Yet  he  is  willing  to  expatriate  himself  and  to  be 
separated  from  his  own  family  and  friends.  He  is 
ready  for  the  martyr's  crown  and  is  sometimes 
called  upoii  to  wear  it.  The  missionary  martyr  roll 
of  the  last  generation  is  far  larger  than  is  often 
thought ;  and  their  blood  has  verily  become  the  seed 
of  the  Church  in  such  lands  as  China,  Turkey  and 
India.  As  a  body  of  men  and  women,  they  are 
preeminently  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  the 
churches  and  constitute  one  of  the  mightiest  assets 
of  the  Christian  Church  in  its  work  of  conquest  for 
Christ. 

Among  the  distinguished  missionaries  of  the  past 
half  century  are  such  names  as  Dufi  and  Scudder, 
Livingstone  and  Chalmers,  Paton  and  Mackay, 
Kellogg  and  Hannington,  Miller  and  Gulick, 
Hamlin  and  Washburn. 

These  and  their  fellow  labourers  were  the  great 
"  empire  builders  of  the  world  "  ;  men  of  whom  the 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  231 

world  was  not  worthy,  and  whose  names  will  be 
known  in  future  centuries  among  those  of  the  great- 
est benefactors  of  our  race. 

These  twenty  thousand  men  and  women  of  to-day 
aspire  to  be  worthy  of  those  who  have  passed  on, 
and  of  that  great  "  cloud  of  witnesses "  who  bore 
testimony  to  their  faith  by  their  blood,  and  gave 
themselves  absolutely  and  gladly  to  the  yoke  of 
Christian  service  for  the  benighted  races  of  the 
world. 

4.     The  Force  of  Native  Workers. 

It  is  eminently  true  that  the  world  is  to  be  won  to 
Christ,  not  by  the  foreign  missionary,  but,  each 
country,  by  its  own  sons  and  daughters.  I  am  glad 
to  say  that  this  force  of  indigenous  workers  in  non- 
Christian  countries  is  impressive  in  its  numbers  and 
increasingly  splendid  in  its  equipment.  The  follow- 
ing figures  represent  this  agency  : 

Ordained  pastors        5)^45 

Unordained  preachers,   teachers  and  Bible 

women,  etc 92,918 

Grand  total  of  native  workers 97*963 

When  we  analyze  these  figures  we  note  that  there 
are  nearly  as  many  ordained  native  pastors  as  there 
are  ordained  foreign  missionaries.  And  there  are 
nearly  five  native  workers  for  every  foreign  mis- 
sionary worker.  These  facts  are  both  encouraging 
and  significant.  It  is  equally  impressive  to  remem- 
ber that  there  is  a  native  Christian  worker  to-day 


232        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

for  every  twenty  communicants  connected  with  the 
mission  Church. 

This  body  of  men  and  women  represents  a 
dynamic  of  great  importance  in  the  progress  of  the 
missionary  cause. 

They  know  the  people  far  better  than  the  mis- 
sionaries do.  They  are  among  their  own  people, 
whom  they  love  with  a  passion  and  whom  they  seek 
with  more  eagerness  than  is  possible  for  a  foreigner. 
They  are  familiar  wath  their  language,  they  know 
their  weaknesses,  and  understand  the  best  avenues 
of  approach  to  them. 

This  agency  is  being  equipped  with  ever  multiply- 
ing efficiency  and  power  in  education,  character  and 
piety.  It  is  annually  adding  to  its  capacity  for 
strong,  successful  work  in  bringing  the  people  to 
Christ.  Upon  it  preeminently  will  depend  the  spirit- 
ual progress  of  the  Church  in  those  lands.  And 
under  its  guidance  and  leadership  the  multitudes 
will  be  gathered  into  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

I  know  of  no  achievement,  in  all  the  history  of 
missions,  equal  to  that  of  winning  to  Christ  so  large 
an  army  of  men  and  women  and  equipping  them  in 
thought  and  life  for  spiritual  and  intellectual  leader- 
ship in  the  young  progressive  Church  of  non-Chris- 
tian lands.  They  are  to  lead  the  Church,  as  Joshua 
of  old,  out  of  the  wilderness,  out  of  bondage  and 
feebleness  into  the  liberty,  the  strength  and  the  joy 
of  the  Lord,  and  into  the  fullness  of  its  glorious  pos- 
sessions in  Him. 

5.     Institutions  established  on  the  Mission  Field. 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  233 

These  are  of  many  kinds.  They  represent  the 
accumulated  strength  and  the  garnered  and  conse- 
crated resources  of  the  missionary  propaganda  for 
future  aggressive  work.  They  have  been  built  up 
with  infinite  care  and  earnest  prayer,  and  also  with 
a  great  expenditure  of  the  pecuniary  resources  of 
the  Church.  They  are  the  products  of  the  highest 
wisdom  and  most  strenuous  efforts  of  the  missionary 
bodies  from  the  first.  They  are  the  sources  from 
which  will  emanate  and  pass  on  to  all  those  Chris- 
tian and  non-Christian  peoples,  the  richest  blessings 
and  the  highest  gifts  of  God  in  the  missionary  enter- 
prise.    I  will  present  only  a  few  of  these. 

(a)     Hospitals  and  Dispensaries. 

Of  these  there  are 

Hospitals 550 

Dispensaries 1,024 

During  the  last  year,  hospital  in-patients 

received 164,245 

Dispensary  treatments 4j  23 1,635 

Hospital  out-patients 3>io5>i33 

Total  treatments  during  the  year,      7,501,013 

These  figures  are  very  suggestive  when  we  realize 
what  they  actually  mean  as  a  testimony  to  the  spirit 
of  our  work  and  of  our  faith. 

The  work  of  these  hospitals  is  far  reaching. 
People  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  around  each 
hospital,  come  to  it  with  their  sufferings  and  their 
ailments  for  treatment  and  cure.  Most  seek  these 
hospitals  as  refuges  from  the  most  ignorant,  cruel 


234        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

and  dangerous  treatment  of  the  untrained  **  doctors  " 
of  their  lands.  When  they  come,  they  not  only 
receive  kind  treatment  with  health  to  their  bodies  : 
they  learn  also  of  the  Saviour  of  souls  and  the  sal- 
vation which  He  has  prepared  for  our  race.  These 
centres  of  medical  activity  and  Christian  altruism 
are  more  than  a  philanthropy.  They  are  the  power 
houses  from  which  the  light  and  the  life  of  Christ 
are  daily  carried  to  untold  thousands  of  suffering, 
discouraged  people.  Everywhere  they  commend 
our  faith.  I  know  of  one  district  where  there  are 
many  thousands  of  Hindus  who  know  and  speak  of 
the  mission,  which  has  laboured  in  that  field  for 
three-fourths  of  a  century,  only  as  the  i.iission  of  its 
doctor — mentioning  his  name.  There  is  a  no  more 
beautiful  way  of  commending  Christ  and  His  faith  to 
a  people  than  by  these  institutions  founded  to  relieve 
their  suffering  and  to  heal  their  bodily  diseases. 
They  are  a  blessed  parable  of  the  healing  and  the 
saving  work  of  Christ  in  the  world. 

{b)  Colleges  and  Universities  founded  and  con- 
ducted by  Missionary  Societies. 

There  are,  at  the  present  time,  eighty-one  such 
institutions,  with  7,991  students.  Nearly  one-half  of 
these  are  in  India,  where  the  missionary  enterprise 
has  rightly  emphasized  its  higher  educational  work. 

Christianity  must  appeal  to  the  people  with  its 
highest  intelligence  and  culture ;  therefore  these 
higher  educational  institutions  have  a  very  important 
place  in  the  economy  of  missions. 

The  value  of  these  institutions  is  twofold.     They 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  235 

train  the  best  and  most  promising  Christian  youth, 
so  as  to  prepare  them  for  large  influence  as  expo- 
nents of  our  faith  and  for  highest  positions  of  leader- 
ship and  power  in  the  Christian  Church.  The  hun- 
dreds of  university  trained  men  in  the  Christian 
communities  of  mission  fields  have  found  their 
equipment  and  special  efficiency  through  these  insti- 
tutions. And  the  independence  and  self-direction  of 
the  native  Church  will  be  largely  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  men  thus  trained  and  qualified  to 
enter  into  all  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  a 
refined  and  cultured  manhood. 

These  institutions  also  render  a  valuable  service 
as  evangelistic  agencies.  They  open  an  excellent 
way  for  carrying  gospel  truth  in  its  highest  reaches 
and  deepest  philosophical  significance  to  the  young 
men  and  women  who  are  to  be  the  future  leaders  of 
those  lands.  In  civilized  countries,  such  as  India, 
China,  Korea  and  Turkey,  these  higher  institutions 
have  a  large  importance  in  this  evangelistic  work, 
as  they  furnish  opportunity  to  reach,  under  most 
favourable  conditions,  the  youthful  mind,  and  build 
there  a  Christian  philosophy  which  will  ultimately 
overthrow  and  replace  the  unworthy  thought  of 
heathenism.  These  young  people  furnish  to  the 
Christian  teacher  one  of  the  best  opportunities  that 
a  man  may  covet,  as  he  meets  them  every  day  in 
the  Bible  class  and  leads  them  into  the  intimacies  of 
Christian  thought  and  life,  specially  as  revealed  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

(c)    Training  Institutions. 


236       The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Apart  from  the  general  educational  work  of  mis- 
sions this  is  one  which  is  specially  directed  to  the 
preparation  of  men  and  women  for  Christian  service. 

There  are  489  such  training  institutions  on  the 
mission  fields.  In  these  schools  of  the  prophets 
there  are  8,280  male  students  and  half  as  many 
females — in  all  12,543  preparing  to  become  preachers 
and  teachers  in  the  service  of  the  missionary  Church. 
The  fundamental  importance  of  this  work  needs  to 
be  emphasized.  It  is  here  that  men  and  women  are 
prepared  to  reinforce  and  swell  the  ranks  of  the 
native  agents  that  I  have  already  referred  .to. 

The  number  may  seem  large,  but  it  is  far  too 
small  to  meet  even  the  present  needs  of  our  mis- 
sions. 

There  is  no  work  more  inspiring,  as  I  know  after 
an  experience  of  twenty  years,  than  this  of  prepar- 
ing men  to  become  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  and  to 
send  them  forth  into  the  needy  field  which  is  already 
white  for  the  harvest.  One  feels,  as  he  helps  to 
equip,  year  after  year,  classes  of  young  men  to  fill 
up  the  ranks  of  those  who  have  fallen  in  the  field  in 
the  Master's  service,  that  he  is  multiplying  himself 
indefinitely,  and  is  rendering  for  the  cause  more, 
perhaps,  than  in  any  other  position  that  he  might 
occupy. 

In  close  connection  with  these  training  institutions 
there  are  also  1,594  boarding-schools  and  high  schools 
in  which  there  are  155,522  students,  of  whom  nearly 
two-thirds  are  males. 

These,   again,   represent    a    department    of    our 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  237 

educational  work  which  is  most  useful  and  helpful  to 
the  cause.  I  have  often  felt  that  the  missionary 
boarding-school  furnishes  to  the  missionary  worker 
the  best  opportunity  possible  to  take  dear  children 
in  the  most  impressionable  age  and  establish  them 
firmly  in  the  beauties  of  Christian  living  and  in  perfect 
familiarity  with  God's  Word  and  with  Christian 
thought.  I  have  rarely  seen  a  boy  or  a  girl,  who 
has  been  a  year  or  more  in  one  of  these  boarding- 
schools,  who  has  not  thereby  been  so  grounded  in 
Christian  life  and  truth  as  to  be  a  living  force  in  his 
community  ever  afterwards. 

Through  these  institutions  the  youthful  life,  of 
Christian  and  non-Christian  alike,  is  easily  and  ef- 
fectively brought  into  subjection  to  the  Christ 
thought  and  life. 

Under  this  same  category  we  may  classify  the 
industrial  schools  and  classes  which  have  now  be- 
come quite  a  feature  in  many  mission  fields. 
There  are  284  such  institutions  in  which  15,535 
students  are  undergoing  technical  or  industrial  train- 
ing. 

It  is  not  long  since  mission  economy  incorporated 
this  as  a  branch  of  training.  It  represents  a  fine  op- 
portunity to  reach  and  to  influence  the  lowest  classes 
and  to  bring  them  into  a  life  of  self-respect  and  to  an 
ability  to  maintain  themselves  in  life  and  service. 
In  Africa,  specially,  this  department  has  developed 
considerably  in  usefulness  and  efficiency.  Among 
the  more  civilized  people  it  has  not  so  large  a 
sphere,  for  it  does  not  appeal  to  such  people,  save  as 


238        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

it  may  be  introduced  strictly  as  a  form  of  technical 
training,  where  it  may  do  much  good  to  all  classes. 

{d)     Primary  Schools. 

There  are  28,901  of  these  elementary  institutions, 
and  in  them  there  are  1,165,212  scholars  under  in- 
struction. 

Connected  with  these  there  are  also  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  kindergartens  with  4,703  pupils. 

This  agency  constitutes  a  wide-open  door  of  op- 
portunity in  all  lands  save  Japan.  The  splendid 
educational  equipment  of  Japan  largely  delDars  mis- 
sionaries and  missionary  societies  from  ordinary 
educational  work.  In  this,  Tapan  differs  much  from 
all  other  mission  fields. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  supreme 
value  of  ^hese  primary  institutions.  Every  primary 
school  is  an  excellent  centre  of  Christian  activity, 
where  children  of  tender  age,  of  both  sexes,  are  not 
only  intellectually,  but  religiously  trained  and  spirit- 
ually moulded.  The  deepest  thoughts  of  religion 
appeal  to  these  little  ones  and  leave  a  lasting  im- 
pression upon  their  tender  mind.  These  schools  are 
usually  planted  in  villages  where  there  are  no  other 
institutions  of  learning  or  opportunities  for  educa- 
tional advantages.  The  teacher  is,  perhaps,  the 
only  educated  man  in  the  community,  and  he  is  a 
Christian.  His  mission  in  that  village  is  not  simply 
an  educational  one.  He  has  preeminently  a  relig- 
ious objective  placed  before  him  in  his  work.  If  he 
is  a  man  of  spiritual  power  and  of  deep  Christian 
earnestness,  he  will  speedily  make  his  schoolhouse  a 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  239 

centre  of  influence,  not  only  in  the  intellectual  and 
moral  discipline  of  the  village,  but  also  in  the  intro- 
duction of  new  religious  ideals  and  in  the  exaltation 
of  Christ,  as  the  supreme  Character  and  the  only 
Saviour  of  the  ages. 

These,  nearly  30,000  centres  of  education,  are 
sources  from  which  emanate  unspeakable  blessings 
of  light  and  of  life  to  the  non-Christian  world. 

Even  the  kindergarten  has  been  introduced  to 
the  East  through  our  Western  missions.  The  child 
of  tenderest  years  is  not  below  their  notice  as  an  op- 
portunity to  implant  the  seed  of  divine  truth  and  of 
spiritual  blessing. 

(e)     Presses  and  Publishing  Houses. 

Few  can  realize  how  extensively  the  missionary 
enterprise  utilizes  the  printing-press  as  an  agency  in 
the  propagation  of  Christianity  throughout  the 
world. 

There  are,  at  the  present  time,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  publishing  houses  in  connection  with  our 
missionary  work.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  forty- 
four  of  these  are  in  India  where  more  work  is  re- 
quired on  this  line  than  in  any  other  field  among 
non-Christian  people. 

It  is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  value  of  this 
agency,  in  connection  with  which  thousands  of 
Christian  men  are  being  engaged  in  the  output  of 
millions  of  pages  of  literature  of  all  kinds  every  year. 
I  have  seen  many  publishing  houses  connected 
with  missionary  activity  in  India  and  Burma  ;  and 
there  are  none  more  enterprising  and  businesslike 


240        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

and  commercially  more  successful  in  those  lands 
than  are  these  mission  presses.  They  are  not  a 
burden  to  the  missionary  societies,  but  are  so  effi- 
ciently directed  as  to  add  very  materially  to  the 
financial  resources  and  to  the  spiritual  and  evangel- 
istic work  of  the  missions.  Of  course,  in  order  to 
achieve  this  they  print  and  publish  more  than  defi- 
nitely Christian  literature,  and  thus  support  them- 
selves for  the  specific  work  of  spreading  the  truth  of 
Christ  and  His  faith  throughout  those  lands.  Some 
missionary  societies  have  entered  into  this  depart- 
ment much  more  extensively  than  others.  Wherever 
they  have  had  men  of  business  capacity  and  tech- 
nical skill  and  training  at  the  head,  they  have  at- 
tained abundant  success.  These  publishing  houses 
are,  to  a  marked  degree,  important  auxiliaries  to  the 
great  work  carried  on  by  our  missions. 

(/)     Literature. 

Christianity  is  a  religion  of  intelligence.  It  thrives 
upon  knowledge,  and  is  furthered  and  built  up 
through  the  printed  page.  It  appeals  to  the  culti- 
vated mind  and  to  the  rational  faculty.  One  of  the 
most  effective  and  convincing  ways  of  carrying  our 
message  is  through  books  and  tracts  and  leaflets.  In 
every  land  and  language  area  there  has  come  into 
existence  a  more  or  less  developed  Christian  litera- 
ture which  is  constantly  growing  in  volume  and 
power,  and  is,  specially  in  the  older  missions,  one  of 
the  agencies  which  is  most  potent  and  pervasive  in 
its  character  and  influence  in  the  missionary  propa- 
ganda.    Its  influence  is  the  more  effective  because  it 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  241 

works  quietly  and  unobtrusively  without  creating 
distrust  in  the  suspicious  mind  of  the  people.  The 
literature  produced  and  developed  by  these  missions 
is  manifold. 

First  there  is  the  apologetic  literature.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  write  books  and  tracts  to  defend  our  faith  and 
to  show  its  sweet  reasonableness  to  those  who  know 
it  not ;  as  also  to  expound  and  elaborate  its  truth  to 
those  who  are  to  become  its  teachers. 

Special  literature  for  non- Christian  peoples  has  to 
be  prepared,  partly  to  show  the  errors  and  inade- 
quacy of  the  ethnic  faiths ;  and  pardy  to  make 
known  the  supreme  blessing  and  power,  and  the  es- 
sential need  of  Christianity.  Some  of  these  are 
adapted  to  the  educated  classes  to  whom  the  best 
and  profoundest  thoughts  of  our  religion  must  be 
presented  in  an  attractive  and  in  an  oriental  way. 
Then  the  common  people  must  be  reached.  Every 
year  millions  of  little  hand- bills  or  leaflets  are  pre- 
pared, each  with  its  own  simple  message  of  truth  and 
of  life,  and  are  scattered  broadcast  among  the  com- 
mon people  who  take  them  and  read  them  eagerly 
and  carry  them  to  their  homes  for  further  reading 
and  thought.  Many  a  soul  has  been  touched,  and 
many  a  life  has  been  saved,  by^  the  simple,  direct 
message  of  these  little  leaflets.  The  writer  has,  him- 
self, published,  during  the  last  few  years,  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  these  little  messengers  which  he  has 
sent  forth,  throughout  the  whole  Tamil  country,  with 
their  loving  messages  of  gospel  truth. 

For  the  Christian  community,  books  of  devotion 


242        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

are  needed ;  and  as  the  community  grows,  the  need 
of  this  special  class  of  Christian  literature  increases 
and  becomes  clamorous.  Generally  speaking  I  think 
that,  in  India,  this  is  the  most  needed  of  all  depart- 
ments of  Christian  literature. 

In  this  department,  hymn-books  and  lyric  books 
constitute  quite  a  feature.  They  should  be  hymns 
composed  on  oriental  lines,  breathing  the  spirit  of 
the  Orient,  in  its  own  literary  form  and  poetic  meas- 
ure. Translated  hymns  of  the  West  will  -gradually 
cease  to  find  a  place  in  the  East ;  and  the  sooner  the 
better  an  indigenous  type  of  hymnology  be  created 
to  express  the  warmth  of  the  piety,  and  to  direct 
with  power  the  spiritual  devotions  and  aspiration  of 
those  people.     Much  of  this  has  already  been  done. 

Then  there  are  hundreds  of  magazines  and  news- 
papers that  are  founded  and  published  in  mission 
fields  in  the  interest  of  the  great  work,  and  with  a 
view  to  disseminating  the  Ufe  and  blessings  of  our 
faith. 

In  some  lands,  especially  in  India,  the  preparation 
and  dissemination  of  school-books  is  a  feature  of 
considerable  importance.  The  schools  of  India  fur- 
nish an  excellent  opportunity  to  our  literature  societies 
to  inculcate  Christian  truth  through  the  school 
readers  and  through  other  forms  of  school  litera- 
ture. 

All  this  literature  needs  adaptation  and  cultivation. 
Too  few  give  themselves  to  literary  work.  Mission- 
ary societies,  in  the  past,  have  very  inadequately  re- 
alized the  importance  of  setting  apart  men  for  the 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  243 

creation  of  worthy  Christian  literature.  There  are 
vast  possibilities  for  the  wise  development  of  this 
agency,  so  that  it  may  become,  with  growing  rapid- 
ity, what  it  surely  will  become,  the  mightiest  force  in 
those  far-off  lands  of  the  East  and  of  Africa,  for  the 
enlightenment  and  salvation  of  the  people. 

For  the  development  of  Christian  literature  in 
these  remote  fields,  societies,  such  as  the  Christian 
Literature  Society  of  India,  and  many  branch  Tract 
Societies  have  existed  for  some  time  and  are  increas- 
ing their  efficiency. 

In  India,  recent  advance  movements  have  taken 
place  with  a  view  to  a  better  organization  of  the  lit- 
erary activities  of  the  missions,  by  the  appointment 
of  literary  missionaries  and  literary  committees  for 
certain  language  areas.  Much  more  can  be  done 
and  will  be  done  on  the  line  of  developing  this  Chris- 
tian agency  of  great  usefulness  and  marvellous 
potentiality  for  good. 

(£■)    The  Translated  Bible. 

In  the  world,  to-day,  there  are  thirty  Bible  socie- 
ties which  publish  annually  12,000,000  copies  of 
God's  Word,  in  whole  or  in  part.  Of  these  societies, 
three,  namely,  the  British  Bible  Society,  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society  and  the  Bible  Society  of  Scotland, 
publish  five-sixths  of  all  these  copies. 

In  addition  to  these,  there  are  six,  or  six  and  a 
half,  million  copies  sold  annually  by  commercial 
publishing  houses. 

Besides  these  societies  there  are,  on  the  mission 
field,  auxiliary  Bible  societies  which  work  entirely 


244        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

under  these  home  societies,  but  also  collect  funds  for 
the  development  of  their  own  work,  which  is  run 
mainly  by  committees  in  those  fields.  The  transla- 
tion and  publication  of  the  Bible,  in  the  many 
tongues  of  those  non-Christian  peoples,  has  not 
only  been  a  great  achievement  in  itself ;  it  has  also 
been  a  marvellous  aid  in  the  furtherance  of  the  mis- 
sionary cause  in  those  countries.  We  are  a  Bible- 
loving  and  a  Bible-propagating  people.  We  believe 
in  the  Welsh  motto,  "  Y  beibl  i  bawb  o  bobl  y  byd  " 
(the  Bible  to  every  soul  on  earth) ;  and  we  seek  to 
carry  that  Bible  with  us  wherever  we  go.  In  South 
India,  Hindus  call  Protestant  Christians  **  Bible  Peo- 
ple "  ;  and  they  glory  in  the  name. 

Through  Protestant  Christianity  the  Word  of  God 
has  beeii  reduced  into  most  of  the  languages  of  the 
world,  and  is  presented  to  nine-tenths  of  the  mem- 
bers of  our  race  in  their  own  tongue.  **  The  number 
of  ancient  and  standard  versions  of  the  Bible  is 
22,  and  the  number  of  modern  and  missionary  ver- 
sions is  456,  of  which  446  were  made  during  the 
nineteenth  century.  Since  these  tables  were  com- 
piled 1 1  new  names  have  appeared  in  the  list  of  Bible 
versions,  bringing  the  number,  at  the  end  of  1903, 
up  to  467.  Of  these  467  missionary  versions,  121 
are  in  African  languages,  52  in  American  languages, 
177  in  Asiatic  languages,  60  in  languages  of  Aus- 
tralia and  Oceanica,  and  57  in  European  languages. 
Taking  the  ancient  and  standard  versions  of  the 
Scriptures  and  the  modern  and  missionary  versions 
together,  we  have  a  total  of  489  versions.     Of  these 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  245 

46  have  become  obsolete,  leaving  443  versions  as  the 
number  now  in  circulation." 

It  has  been  the  chief  glory  of  our  missionary  en- 
terprise that  it  has,  at  the  earliest  possible  day,  fur- 
nished an  open  Bible  to  the  people  whom  it  sought 
to  Christianize.  Through  the  Syrian  Church  and 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  Christianity  was  found 
in  India  for  fourteen  centuries  without  a  translation 
of  God's  Word  into  any  Indian  vernacular.  Protes- 
tant Christianity  had  not  been  in  India  twenty  years 
before  it  presented  to  the  infant  Church  the  Tamil 
translation  of  the  Bible — the  first  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  in  all  the  East.  In  India  alone,  God's 
Word,  in  whole  or  in  part,  has  been  translated  into 
seventy- six  languages  and  is  sold  at  a  nominal  price 
to  the  people  of  that  country. 

The  value  of  this  splendid  auxiliary  to  the  mission- 
ary work  in  those  lands  is  beyond  computation.  It 
is  fundamentally  important  for  the  development  of 
intelligent  Christian  lives  and  for  the  creation  of  a 
strong  Christian  sentiment  in  those  lands  of  the  East. 
That  missionary  who  goes  to  a  people  with  the  open 
Bible  and,  with  simplicity,  preaches,  not  so  much  his 
own  words,  as  he  repeats  and  teaches  the  Word  of 
God  as  his  message  to  all  whom  he  meets,  has  a 
great  advantage  over  the  one  who  ignores  it  or  takes 
it  in  an  unknown  tongue  to  the  people. 

{h)     Philanthropic  Institutions. 

Christian  missions  have  taken  up,  with  more  or 
less  eagerness,  various  forms  of  philanthropy  and 
have  built  up  many  charitable  institutions  for  the  un- 


246        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

fortunates  of  their  communities.  There  are,  at 
the  present  time,  connected  wich  the  missionary 
work : 


Orphanages 265 

Inmates .  20,206 

Leper  asylums  and  hospitals 88 

Inmates , 7*769 

Rescue  homes 21 

Inmates 856 

Homes  for  widows 15 

Inmates _    410 

Industrial  homes 28 

Inmates i>789 


There  is  some  question  as  to  how  far  missionaries 
should  go  into  this  kind  of  activity  ;  but  there  is  no 
question  that  all  these  philanthropies  should  be  defi- 
nitely undertaken  as  Christian  philanthropies.  They 
must  be  carried  on  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  for 
the  sake  of  Christ.  Such  efiorts  help  the  people  to 
realize  the  true  character  of  our  faith.  In  non- 
Christian  lands,  a  few  years  ago,  it  was  only  the 
Christian  that  took  up  these  forms  of  activity. 
Imagine  a  Hindu  philanthropy  of  this  type  !  A  few 
years  ago  there  could  not  be  found  in  all  India  a 
purely  philanthropic  institution  for  all  men  estab- 
lished by  a  Hindu.  There  were  caste  institutions 
and  others  established  for  local  helpfulness  and  sec- 
tional aid.  To-day,  under  the  influence  of  Christian 
example,  even  Hindus  are  beginning  to  broaden 
their  charity  and  to  endow  institutions  for  the  sake 
of  others  than  their  own  caste.     But  even  to-day  it  is 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  247 

left  largely  to  the  Christian  worker  to  enter  exten- 
sively and  heartily  into  these  philanthropic  efforts. 
The  East  sees  that  the  truest  and  best  philanthropy 
is  that  which  is  conducted  in  the  name  of  our  Lord, 
and  inspired  by  His  Spirit  and  example.  Even 
though  we  look  at  these  many  kinds  of  charitable 
institutions  as  a  side  issue  in  our  work,  they  never- 
theless reveal  the  true  spirit  of  our  religion  and  are 
a  valuable  asset  in  connection  with  our  enterprise,  at 
the  beginning  of  this  new  century. 

6.  It  may  be  of  some  value  to  mention  here 
special  effort  which  is  made  in  behalf  of  the  conver- 
sion of  Jews. 

Work  for  the  people  of  Israel,  for  many  reasons, 
has"  powerfully  appealed  to  the  imagination  of  the 
Christian  Church.  As  a  consequence  of  this,  ninety- 
five  missions  are  at  present  conducted  in  various 
parts  of  the  world  for  the  Christianization  of  the 
Jewish  people.  And  in  connection  with  these  same, 
952  missionaries  are  employed.  The  work  has  not 
been,  on  the  whole,  very  successful  in  bringing  large 
communities  to  Christ ;  yet  many  souls  have  been 
brought  into  the  Kingdom,  and  wonderful  instances 
of  transformed  lives  have  been  witnessed  among  the 
results  of  this  enterprise.  In  America,  more  perhaps 
than  in  any  other  land,  the  leaven  of  Christianity 
has  worked  mightily  upon  the  Jewish  community. 
It  has  liberalized  the  Jewish  faith  and  has  trans- 
formed the  spirit  of  the  Jews  in  this  country  to  a  no 
inconsiderable  extent.  It  has  also  given  to  the  re- 
form element  in  that  community  a  breadth  of  sym- 


248        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

pathy  and  a  new  vision  of  truth  such  as  it  never 
before  possessed. 

7.  The  Missionary  Work  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 

With  a  view  to  appreciate  the  extent  of  the  mis- 
sionary work  which  has  been  accomplished  in  the 
name  of  Christ  one  must  not  ignore  the  remarkable 
efforts  put  forth  by  the  Romish  Church  among  the 
non-Christian  nations.  Centuries  before  the  Protes- 
tant Church  came  into  existence,  the  Ancient  Church 
of  Rome  sent  forth  its  messengers  into  those  dark 
lands  of  the  East  and  into  Africa.  These  men  and 
women  revealed  a  devotion  to  the  cause  and  an  ab- 
solute self-effacement  in  the  service,  which  they 
rendered  to  those  heathen  people,  such  as  any 
Church  might  be  proud  of.  Thousands  of  them 
gave  their  lives  in  self-denying  service  and  gladly 
surrendered  themselves  to  a  martyr  life  that  they 
might  reveal  to  the  people  the  Lord  whom  they 
served. 

They  still  decline  to  recognize  us  as  worthy,  or 
even  as  true,  followers  of  the  Lord  ;  and  they  would 
deny  to  us  the  right  to  be  His  representatives.  We 
dare  not,  if  we  would,  reciprocate  such  sentiments. 
I  have  seen  much  that  is  unworthy  and  debasing 
connected  with  Roman  Catholic  missions  in  the 
East ;  but  I  have  also  felt  that  those  devoted  men 
and  saintly  women  were  as  truly  representatives  of 
my  Lord  and  His  cause  as  my  brethren  and  I  are. 
We  would  that  they  did  not  becloud  their  message 
and  hide  their  Lord  as  much  as  they  do ;  but,  in  our 


Present  Forces  and  Agencies  249 

estimate  of  the  forces  of  Christianity,  we  must  not 
fail  to  count  them  among  the  host  of  those  who 
bring  Christ  and  Him  Crucified  to  the  millions  in 
those  lands  that  know  Him  not. 

Connected  with  Roman  Catholic  missions  to  non- 
Christians,  at  the  present  time,  there  are 

European  priests 7*933 

European  sisters 21,320 

Stations   and  out-stations 42,963 

Native  church-members 7,441,215 

Schools 24,033 

Pupils 840,974 

These  figures  are  certainly  interesting  and  very 
suggestive.  They  will  doubtless  be  a  revelation  to 
many  self-complacent  Protestant  Christians,  who  are 
inclined  to  think  that  they  are  the  only  Christians 
possessed  of  a  missionary  interest.  It  may  be  well 
to  compare  these  figures  with  those  of  the  Protestant 
missionary  host  and  their  work,  whereby  it  will  be 
seen  that  in  all  departments  except  that  of  education, 
and  also  that  of  a  native  agency,  they  are  in  advance 
of  ourselves. 

8.  It  will  be  equally  interesting  to  remember  that 
other  great  sister  Church — the  Russian  Orthodox 
Church — in  the  missionary  enterprise  which  it  is  now 
conducting.  Statistics  of  this  work  are  not  so  clear 
or  so  full  as  in  the  case  of  Roman  Catholicism  ;  and  it 
is,  doubtless,  not  so  missionary  in  its  spirit  as  either 
of  the  other  two  branches  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Nevertheless  it  has  four  hundred  missionaries 
working  in  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  districts. 


250        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Seven  hundred  schools  are  also  conducted  by  it.  Its 
missions  are  chiefly  in  Siberia,  in  European  Russia, 
in  Japan,  and  among  the  Indians  of  North  America. 
In  Japan  alone  it  has  30,712  native  Christians,  con- 
nected with  265  church  parishes,  under  the  care  of  the 
Archbishop  and  a  Bishop,  and  thirty-three  Japanese 
priests.  It  is  a  striking  fact  that  this  Church  has  one 
branch  of  its  work  in  our  own  American  continent 
among  the  Indian  people — aiding  us  to  Christianize 
our  own  wards ! 

There  are  other  forces  and  agencies,  which  might 
be  noted  and  which  combine  with  those  rhentioned, 
to  furnish  to  the  missionary  cause  a  splendid 
foundation  for  the  rapid  up-building  of  the  King- 
dom of  Christ  throughout  the  non-Christian  world. 
What  is  specially  needed  is  that  all  may  be  filled, 
animated  and  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  com- 
ing of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  those  lands. 


VIII 

The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  to  be 
Accomplished 

WISDOM  and  truth  dictate  at  this  point 
that  a  picture  be  drawn  which  shall  be 
complementary  to  that  of  the  two  previ- 
ous chapters ;  or  it  may  be  studied  as  a  corrective 
of  the  same.  It  is  certainly  necessary  to  look  at  the 
other  side  of  the  shield,  lest  we  think  that  this  work 
of  world  conquest  is  either  easy  of  accomplishment 
or  has  been,  to  a  large  extent,  achieved. 

It  is  also  very  appropriate  that  the  missionary 
cause  be  so  presented  as  to  appeal  to  the  heroic 
element  in  men's  nature. 

This  enterprise  is  not  only  the  greatest  that  the 
world  has  ever  known ;  it  is  also  the  most  difficult  of 
achievement.  Let  us  not  fall  into  the  error  of  think- 
ing that  Christianizing  the  nations  and  bringing  the 
world  to  the  feet  of  our  Lord  is  the  task  of  a  day  or 
of  a  generation.  Its  magnitude  should  be  fully 
realized  by  the  people  of  God  in  order  that  they 
may  prosecute  it  with  all  seriousness  and  brace 
themselves  up  with  a  faith  that  is  invincible,  with  a 
courage  that  will  never  yield,  and  with  a  purpose  to 
lean  hard  upon  God,  that  He  may  lead  in  the  con- 


252        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

flict  and  give  patience  in  the  work  to  the  very  end. 
**  With  God  all  things  are  possible " ;  but  in  this 
enterprise  He  works  through  the  agency  of  man. 
He  depends  upon  His  own  Church  to  a  much  larger 
extent  then  we  are  wont  to  believe.  It  is  true  that 
His  divine  Spirit  is  working  mightily  in  and 
through  the  Church ;  but  it  is  a  complementary  and 
equally  significant  truth  that  the  Church  itself 
can  render,  and  has  for  many  years  sadly  rendered, 
ineffective  the  work  of  God's  Spirit.  It  has  blocked 
the  way  of  the  fulfillment  of  God's  own  purposes, 
and  is  still  so  indifferent  to  its  responsibility  in  this 
work  that  the  infinitely  patient  Spirit  of  God  waits, 
and  still  waits  for  His  people  to  move  on  and  stop 
complaining  in  their  onward  march  to  victory.  The 
old  commg^nd  to  Moses  comes  anew  to  the  Church, 
— "Wherefore  criest  thou  unto  Me?  Speak  unto 
the  children  of  Israel  that  they  go  forward." 


I 

It  is  important  to  remember  the  great  unfinished 
task  of  the  Church.  I  have  mentioned,  in  the  early 
pages  of  this  book,  that  God  is  opening  the  door  of 
Christian  opportunity  in  the  dark  lands  of  the  earth. 
This  statement  is  true,  but  needs  cautious  and  not 
too  sanguine  interpretation.  There  are  now  many 
regions,  and  even  countries,  in  the  world,  where  the 
work  of  the  Christian  missionary  is  either  an  impos- 
sibility, or,  at  least,  has  not  yet  been  undertaken. 
There  are   countries   in   Asia  where  there  are  no 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  253 

missionaries  of  the  Cross  and  none  to  carry  the 
message  of  Christ  to  the  people.  There  are  millions 
in  Arabia,  a  half-million  in  Syria,  east  of  the  Jordan, 
and  many  more  in  other  sections  of  the  land  which 
is  called  "holy"  who  never  hear  the  gospel  message 
from  a  Protestant  missionary. 

There  are  whole  provinces  in  China  which  are 
closed  doors  up  to  the  present  day.  Tibet  has  its 
6,000,000  souls  upon  whose  ears  the  Christian  mes- 
sage never  falls.  South  of  Tibet  are  the  native 
states  of  Bhutan  and  Nepal,  with  a  population  of 
more  than  5,000,000,  without  a  Christian  mission- 
ary. 

Afghanistan,  with  its  4,000,000  souls,  is  not  yet 
touched  by  missionary  endeavour.  Bokhara  and 
Khiva  have  their  2,000,000  and  more  who  know 
nothing  of  the  Christian  message.  Then  the 
French  Hindu  China  with  its  21,500,000  population 
knows  no  Protestant  missionary  work  apart  from 
that  of  three  agents  of  the  Bible  Society.  In  these 
lands  of  Asia  there  are  42,000,000  untouched  by  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

There  are  also  vast  countries  in  Africa,  with 
millions  of  people,  which  are  areas  of  unrelieved 
heathen  darkness  and  gloom.  It  is  said  that 
70,000,000  souls,  or  more  than  one-third  of  the 
population  of  the  continent,  have  never  heard  the 
gospel  message. 

Taking  together  all  these  definitely  unoccupied 
fields  we  find  113,000,000  souls  who  are  perishing 
for  the  bread  of  life, — men  who  are  Christless  and 


254        T^^  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

without  hope  in  the  world.  In  view  of  the  terrible 
condition  of  that  great  continent  must  it  not  be  said 
that  the  Church  of  God  is  still  "  playing  with  mis- 
sions "  ? 

Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  many  of  the  lands 
which  are  now  '*  occupied  "  by  our  missionary  force 
are,  in  any  sense,  adequately  occupied.  In  no  other 
country,  among  non-Christian  lands,  is  there  so  large 
a  force  of  Protestant  missionaries  as  in  India. 
Nearly  five  thousand  of  them  are  giving  themselves 
to  the  salvation  of  that  people.  This  may  seem  a 
large  number.  Yet  there  are  immense  regions  in 
that  land  which  are  untouched  by  missionary  effort. 
There  are  thousands  of  square  miles  without  one 
missionary  messenger  to  proclaim  the  Gospel. 
Those  who  have  carefully  investigated  the  situation 
claim  that  there  are  100,000,000  people  in  India — 
one-third  of  the  population  of  that  immense  penin- 
sula— for  whom  no  missionary  is  working  at  the 
present  time  and  who  have  not  a  chance  to  know 
Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified  as  the  Saviour  of 
man.  It  is  pathetic  to  see  how  ready  we  are  to  label 
a  country,  or  a  district,  as  ''  occupied,"  when  not 
even  a  tithe  of  the  people  regularly  come  into  touch 
with  the  Christian  worker ;  and  only  the  smallest 
fraction  of  these  have  any  intelligent  comprehension 
of  our  faith  and  of  our  Lord. 

There  are  reasons  for  this  great  inadequacy  of  our 
work  in  the  world.  Many  of  these  countries,  either 
through  hostility  of  the  people,  or  through  inhospi- 
table clime,  or  through  lack  of  means  of  communica- 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  255 

tion,  are  still  inaccessible.  Travelling  there  is  all 
but  impossible,  and  means  of  transportation  are  of 
the  most  primitive  kind. 

There  are  also  political  hindrances.  Even  under 
the  British  government  in  India,  there  are  Native 
States  which  are  closed  to  the  missionary  because  of 
the  unwillingness  of  the  governments  to  receive  him. 
The  fanaticism  of  such  countries  as  Afghanistan  and 
Arabia  and  Turkey  make  efforts  for  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel  in  them  a  practical  impossibility. 

Thus,  in  some  lands  that  are  well  known  to  the 
traveller  and  to  the  geographer  there  is  no  entrance 
or  welcome  to  the  missionary. 

And,  what  is  saddest  of  all ;  even  if  all  these  lands 
were  open ;  should  all  the  many  kings  of  Africa  im- 
itate Mtesa  and  send  their  appeal  for  missionary 
workers ;  and  if  all  Asia  and  the  Islands  of  the  Seas 
were  to  send  their  united  cry  to  Christendom  for 
gospel  light  and  spiritual  help,  the  Church  of  God 
would  not  be  in  a  condition  to  respond.  It  would  be 
necessary  to  double  its  force  at  once.  Where  are  the 
men  and  means  ?  Where  are  the  consecration  and 
the  sublime  purpose  of  the  Church  which  would  en- 
able it  to  take  possession  of  these  lands,  were  they 
accessible,  and  were  they  to  invite  the  missionary 
to-morrow  ? 

It  is  time  for  the  Church  to  realize  that  it  still 
stands  only  on  the  threshold  of  its  great  missionary 
conquest.  It  is  not  true  that  its  representatives 
cover  the  world  with  a  network  of  their  activity.  It 
is  far  from  true  that  they  have  possessed  the  land 


256        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

which  the  Lord  is  so  anxious  to  give  unto  them,  in 
every  section  of  the  earth. 

II 

Consider  also  the  missionary  activity  of  other 
faiths  which  are  preempting  some  lands  of  the  earth, 
and  which,  in  not  a  few  regions,  are  outstripping  our 
faith  in  the  race  for  conquest. 

Islam  is  a  conspicuous  illustration  of  zeal  and  mis- 
sionary enterprise  which  is  not  without  instruction 
to  the  leaders  of  our  faith.  It  is  remarkable  how 
Mohammedanism  has  spread  recently  over  many  re- 
gions where  it  had  few  possessions  even  fifty  years 
ago.  In  Africa,  for  instance,  the  propaganda  of 
Islam  has  been  far  more  active,  and  incomparably 
more  suc(i:essful,  in  gaining  converts  than  that  of 
Christianity.  One  writer  says  that, — "  We  see  Islam 
actively  spreading  over  Africa,  where  Christianity  is 
not  progressive.  It  came  with  the  Arab-slaver  and 
was  identified  with  the  slave  traffic.  It  comes  now 
with  a  certain  racial  pride  and  appeals  to  the  Af- 
rican, because  it  seems  to  link  him  with  a  great 
world  empire." 

Islam  has  uttered  a  cry  of  defiance  against  the 
Christian  world.  It  is  a  challenge  to  the  representa- 
tives of  our  faith  to  enter  quickly  and  to  take  pos- 
session rapidly  of  that  great  land  of  darkness,  or  to 
utterly  abandon  it,  that  the  people  may  entirely  be- 
come Mohammedans.  In  the  animated  missionary 
campaign  which  that  faith  has  conducted,  during  re- 
cent years  in  Africa,  its  converts  have  increased  un- 


The  Magnitude  of  the  I'ask  257 

til  they  are  fifty  million  strong — many  times  the 
number  of  those  who  have  embraced  our  faith.  The 
noble  work  of  Mofiat  and  Livingstone,  and  of  a  host 
of  other  kingly  souls  who  gave  themselves  unto 
death  for  Africa,  is  very  inadequately  sustained  as 
compared  with  the  missionary  ardour  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  rival  faith,  which  is  spreading 
everywhere  and  bringing  millions  of  pagans  into  its 
fold.  As  one  has  truly  said, — **  The  Church  must 
awake  to  her  duty  towards  Islam.  Who  will  wake 
her  and  keep  her  awake,  unless  it  be  those  who  have 
heard  the  challenge  of  Islam,  and  who,  going  out 
against  her,  have  found  her  armour  decayed,  her 
weapons  antiquated  and  her  children,  though  proud 
and  reticent,  still  unhappy?  " 

Never  before  was  the  real  urgency  of  this  work 
felt  as  at  the  present  time.  We  have  heard  of  the 
"  Moslem  Peril."  The  peril  lies  in  the  fact  that  if 
the  Church  does  not  wake  up  speedily  to  its  oppor- 
tunity in  Africa  it  will  have  before  it  the  task  of  con- 
verting the  millions  of  that  land,  not  out  of  pagan- 
ism, but,  which  is  a  much  more  difficult  thing,  out 
of  the  bigotry  and  the  fanaticism  of  Mohammedan- 
ism, into  which  they  are  being  drawn  so  rapidly. 

And  this  is  true  not  only  of  Africa.  Islam  is  ag- 
gressive in  all  parts  of  the  East.  It  has  more  fol- 
lowers in  India  (62,500,000)  than  in  any  other  coun- 
try on  earth  ;  and  it  is  spreading  and  triumphing  in 
many  countries  under  the  enthusiastic  leadership  of 
its  ardent  mullahs  and  vigorous  missionaries.  In 
the  city  of  Cairo  there  is  an  immense  Mohammedan 


258        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

university.  We  smile  at  the  limited  vision  of  its  an- 
tiquated curriculum  of  studies  and  the  low  range  of 
its  scientific  and  literary  achievements.  But  we 
must  not  forget  that  every  one  of  its  ten  thousand 
students  goes  forth  from  those  halls  of  learning  as 
an  enthusiastic  defender  and  propagator  of  his  faith. 
He  descends  into  the  scorching  plains  and  the  track- 
less deserts  of  Africa  and  proclaims  his  simple  creed 
of  one  god,  Allah,  and  of  one  prophet,  Mohammed. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  students  of  other,  great  Mo- 
hammedan schools  at  Fez,  Tunis  and  Algiers. 

A  missionary  from  Africa  declares  that, — "  The 
heathen  tribes  are  rapidly  coming  under  the  spiritual 
power  of  Islam.  Among  many  tribes  in  central  and 
equatorial  Africa,  where  ten  years  ago  there  were  no 
Mohammedans,  to-day  there  are  thousands.  The 
delay  of  Christianity  to  occupy  those  regions  is  giv- 
ing the  opportunity  to  Islam.  Instead  of  being  led 
to  follow  the  true  Prophet  of  God,  these  heathen 
tribes  are  becoming  followers  of  the  prophet  of 
Arabia.  To  the  Pagans  of  Africa  the  door  is  every- 
where open,  and  Islam  is  aggressive,  with  a  prose- 
lyting sword  and  the  Kalema  of  the  Koran." 

It  should  furthermore  be  remembered  that  Mos- 
lems, whether  they  be  Arabians  or  Africans,  easily 
unite  with  the  Africans.  They  become  a  part  of  its 
indigenous  life  and  eagerly  marry  with  the  people. 
For  thirteen  centuries  that  faith  has  held  portions  of 
that  continent.  To  its  votary  African  life  is  the  nor- 
mal thing  ;  he  thrives  there.  Mohammedanism,  at 
its  stronghold  in  Sudan,  is  both  vigorous  and  aggres- 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  259 

sive.  It  has  fanatics  without  number,  who  are  bitterly 
intolerant  towards  men  of  other  faiths,  and  who  treat, 
with  unspeakable  cruelty,  those  African  people  who 
will  not  entertain  their  religion. 

It  should  also  be  remembered,  as  one  has  said, 
that,  **  where  Christ  was  born  Mohammed's  name  is 
called  from  minarets  five  times  daily ;  but  where 
Mohammed  was  born  no  Christian  dares  to  enter." 
The  very  tolerance  of  Christianity  is  the  opportunity 
and  strength  of  Islam  in  many  parts  of  the  world  ; 
while  the  intolerance  of  Moslems  bars  and  bolts  the 
door  of  opportunity  against  the  Christian  mission- 
ary, and  even  against  the  Christian  merchant,  in 
some  parts  of  the  world. 

During  the  last  few  years  there  also  has  come  into 
existence  what  is  called  the  "  Pan-Islam  "  movement. 
This  represents  the  new  growing  consciousness  of 
power  and  the  bond  of  union  and  fellowship  which 
have  risen  among  the  representatives  of  Islam 
throughout  the  world.  The  leaders  of  that  faith  are 
now  planning  their  campaign  as  one  great,  united 
body,  whose  schemes  of  conquest  are  world-wide  in 
their  scope.  They  are  also  bitterly  hostile  to  Chris- 
tianity, which  is  the  only  real  rival  and  mighty  an- 
tagonist in  the  world.  This  Pan-Islam  movement  is 
propagated  with  much  earnestness  and  enthusiasm 
in  unexpected  regions  of  the  world.  Pan-Islamic  as- 
sociations exist  in  London,  Paris,  Geneva,  the  United 
States  and  other  foreign  countries.  This  propa- 
ganda is  vigorously  supported  by  at  least  a  dozen 
magazines,  of  which  six  are  in  Cairo,  which  is  now 


26o        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

really  the  centre  and  heart  of  Islam.  Three  or  four 
years  ago  Christian  missionaries,  engaged  in  work 
among  the  Mohammedans,  had  a  conference  in 
Cairo,  and  were  greatly  impressed  by  the  story  of  the 
aggressiveness  of  Islam  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

It  is,  of  course,  a  disputed  question  whether  Mo- 
hammedanism can  adapt  itself,  in  any  way,  to  mod- 
ern conditions  of  life  and  to  advanced  and  progress- 
ive thought.  It  will  certainly  have  to  be  born 
again  ere  it  can  breathe  the  wholesome  air  of  civili- 
zation and  so  chasten  its  life  and  add  progress  to  its 
thought,  as  to  find  civilized  society  congenial. 

But  one  thing  is  certain.  Among  the  lower  races 
of  the  world,  where  Christianity  should  be  making 
its  chief  triumphs  and  the  missionary  propaganda 
should  be  achieving  its  largest  success,  Mohammed- 
anism is  already  in  the  field  and  is  taking  possession 
of  the  land  and  of  the  heart  of  the  people  with  ever 
accelerating  speed.  This  is  certainly  a  loud  call 
and  a  stirring  challenge  to  the  Church  of  God  at 
this  time. 

Other  faiths  also  are  waking  to  the  spirit  of  the 
new  era.  Buddhism,  which  is  thoroughly  oriental 
in  its  character  and  history,  is  beginning  to  invade 
the  West  with  its  pervasive  and  genial  activities. 
Even  Hinduism,  the  most  exclusive  and  most 
thoroughly  ethnic  of  all  religions,  has  now  a  corps  of 
Swami  missionaries  in  this  and  other  lands  of  the 
West.  Nor  do  they  have  to  travel  far  in  America  to 
find  willing  audiences  and  apparent  response  to  their 
milk-and-water  philosophy.     They  return   to  India 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  261 

and  publicly  proclaim  that  many  thousands  of  our 
American  citizens  have  adopted  the  Hindu  faith ! 

Ill 

Note  also  the  opposition  which  prevails  against 
our  cause  in  non-Christian  lands.  As  before  men- 
tioned, there  are  many  things  in  those  countries 
which  are  very  cheering  and  inspiring  to  the  Chris- 
tian missionary.  They  lend  hope  and  courage  to  his 
soul  as  he  carries  on  his  missionary  work. 

But  there  are  some  things  which  are  adverse  to 
our  cause  and  which  retard  its  progress.  Some  of 
them  will,  with  increasing  power,  impede  its  prog- 
ress, and,  probably,  rob  it  of  some  of  the  success  al- 
ready attained. 

The  new  patriotism,  which  is  so  notable  a  feature 
in  Japan,  reveals  such  an  overweening  appreciation 
of  the  past  history  of  the  land,  and  admiration  of 
their  ancient  life  and  institutions  as  to  be  inimical  to 
our  faith.  Recently  I  heard  a  lecture  given  by  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  educators  and  leaders  of 
that  Empire.  He  maintained  that  the  present  pros- 
perity and  progress  of  the  Japanese  was  the  result  of 
the  normal  development  of  their  ancient  life.  He 
denied  that  foreign  influence  had  had  anything  to  do 
with  it ;  and  he  ignored  completely  any  influence 
that  Christianity,  or  Western  civilization,  had  exer- 
cised over  them  for  their  present  good.  He  referred 
their  ethical  system  to  two  things  as  its  source — the 
worship  of  the  emperor  and  the  reverence  for,  or  the 
worship  of,  their  ancestors.     He  regarded  these  two 


262        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

as  entirely  adequate  to  create  and  sustain  the  most 
vigorous  ethical  code  and  moral  system ! 

For  some  time  and  with  increasing  persistence,  the 
patriotism  of  Japan  will  criticize,  and  decline  a  cor- 
dial welcome  to,  the  common  faith  of  the  people  of  the 
West. 

The  same  spirit  is  manifesting  itself  in  China. 
Almost  any  day  may  reveal  a  new  spirit  of  hostility 
and  antipathy  to  our  faith  among  that  people, — a 
thing  which  would  embarrass  greatly  all  work  in  that 
land.  The  Chinese  have  had  much,  and  still  have 
considerable,  injustice  and  contempt  to  endure  from 
the  people  of  the  West.  They  have  felt,  and  still 
feel,  this  keenly.  They  are  revealing  their  senti- 
ments against  the  Americans  to-day,  in  the  way  in 
which  they  believe  our  people  will  feel  it  most — in 
the  form  of  a  commercial  boycott.  The  treatment  of 
China  by  Great  Britain  in  its  opium  commerce,  and 
in  other  ways,  has  for  some  years  added  bitterness 
to  bitterness  against  Anglo-Saxons.  It  is  not  impos- 
sible that  the  vial  of  their  wrath  may  ere  long  be 
poured  upon  our  religion,  because  of  the  cruel  and 
selfish  treatment  which  Westerners  have  meted  out 
to  them.  The  political  aspect  and  complications  of 
Roman  Catholic  Christianity  for  many  years  in  that 
land  may  add  fuel  to  this  fire  of  hostility.  As  China 
comes  more  and  more  to  feel  her  power,  she  will  be- 
come increasingly  prepared  to  reveal  her  sentiments 
in  her  attitude  towards  Christianity  ;  and  this  may 
not  be  such  as  we  desire. 

In  India,  too,  the  new  patriotism  of  the  day  is  defi- 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  263 

nitely  anti-Christian.  I  know  that  this  is  only  a 
passing  phase  of  the  present  unrest ;  still  this  unrest 
has  for  its  special  characteristic  a  reactionary  senti- 
ment in  favour  of  all  that  is  oriental ;  and  inasmuch 
as  Christianity  represents  to  them  the  quintessence 
of  Occidentalism  ;  and  inasmuch  as  their  own  faith 
is  being  increasingly  eclipsed  by  the  new,  their  op- 
position and  bitterness  are  naturally  turned  towards 
the  conquering  faith. 

Non-Christian  religions  will  not  die  easily.  They 
have  not  existed  for  centuries,  nor  have  they  wrought 
in  the  lives  of  these  people  for  so  many  generations, 
without  winding  their  tendrils  around  the  human 
heart  and  creating  within  their  votaries  warm  senti- 
ments of  affection  which  will  not  allow  them  to  pass 
away  without  an  effort.  These  faiths  are,  to-day,  on 
the  defensive.  It  is  a  life  and  death  struggle  with 
some  of  them.  They  all  realize  that  Christianity  is 
their  deadly  enemy.  All  their  resources  will  be  ex- 
ercised, to  the  very  last,  that  they  may  be  maintained, 
if  not  prospered,  in  the  lands  of  their  birth.  No  one 
who  has  not  seen  these  religions,  or  realized  the  at- 
tachment of  many  of  the  people  to  them,  can  under- 
stand what  a  mighty  conflict  there  must  be  before 
they  succumb  to  the  mightier  faith. 

Hinduism,  for  instance,  is  'a  most  plastic  and 
amorphous  thing,  which  yields  readily  at  every 
point,  offering  little  resistance  to  any  attack  and  al- 
ways ready  to  adapt  itself  to  any  new  situation.  It 
may  seem  to  perish  under  a  vigorous  attack  from 
without ;  but  will  again  reveal  its  strange  life,  devel- 


264        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

oping  on  other  sides  and  in  other  forms  of  activity. 
It  is  ready  to  adopt  anything  that  belongs  to  any 
foreign  faith.  It  will  fraternize  with  any  religion 
under  heaven.  But  all  this  is  only  preparatory  to 
its  sinister  and  deadly  purpose  to  finally  absorb  the 
new  faith.  It  is  trying  to  do  this  very  thing  with 
Christianity  at  the  present  time.  One  of  the  most 
serious  dangers  to  our  faith  in  that  land  is  that  which 
comes  from  the  friendly  approaches  of  this  religion. 
It  throws  deadening  influence  over  Christianity  at 
all  points  ;  and  nothing  but  eternal  vigilance  and 
an  attitude  of  defiance  and  hostility "  will  keep 
our  faith  pure  in,  and  uncontaminated  by,  its 
presence. 

These  religions  easily  adopt  Christian  methods  of 
activity.  There  are  found  in  India  to-day  Young 
Men's  Hindu  Associations  (patterning  after  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association)  and  Tract  So- 
cieties to  disseminate  Hindu  tracts,  which  are  mostly 
a  vile  abuse  of  Christianity  and  the  Bible.  They 
have  evangelistic  societies  through  which  they  ap- 
point and  send  forth  preachers  of  their  religion.  All 
these  are  strictly  Christian  methods  which  have  been 
recently  adopted  by  Hindus. 

Under  the  growing  light  of  Christianity,  in  these 
countries,  the  ancestral  faiths  are  increasingly  put- 
ting on  respectability.  They  slough  off  one  evil 
after  another  that  they  may  not  seem  so  abhorrent 
to  the  new  eye  of  civilization  which  gazes  upon  them. 
In  every  way  they  are  adapting  themselves  to  the 
new  conditions ;  and  instead  of  dying  out,  as  one 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  265 

would  expect  under  the  circumstances,  they  put  on 
new  garments,  change  the  emphasis,  eHminate  the 
most  obnoxious  features  and  try  hard  to  commend 
themselves  to  the  people  in  their  new  state  of  ad- 
vance, and  with  their  modern  anibitions.  Years  ago 
the  decadence  of  Hinduism  and  its  apparent  failure 
was  noticeable  ;  and  one  was  thereby  encouraged  to 
hope  that  in  a  very  short  time  it  would  vanish  en- 
tirely. However,  it  only  turned  around,  changed  its 
attitude  to  suit  the  new  situation  and  soon  put  on  a 
new  effort,  which  is  now  strenuously  maintained,  to 
regain  the  affection  of  the  community. 

In  many  cases,  the  very  education  and  intelligence 
which  missionaries  and  missionary  institutions  are 
imparting  to  those  people  of  the  East  are  utilized  by 
them  to  bolster  up  their  old  faith,  to  beautify  it  as 
best  they  can,  and  to  express  its  musty  doctrines  and 
antiquated  teachings  in  modern  scientific  terms,  and, 
especially,  in  a  Christian  terminology  which  gives 
them  the  dignity  of  a  Christian  interpretation.  In 
this  and  many  other  ways  these,  erstwhile,  moribund 
faiths  of  the  East  are  revealing  a  new  vitality,  and  a 
fresh  vigour.  They  are  even  putting  on  an  atti- 
tude of  defiance,  and,  in  modern  ways,  are  forti- 
fying themselves  against  the  encroachments  of  our 
faith. 

This  is  what  we  would  naturally  expect.  But  we 
must  take  full  account  of  it  as  one  of  the  elements  in 
the  missionary  problem,  and  in  the  delay  of  that  ulti- 
mate triumph  to  which  we  are  looking  forward  with 
so  much  eagerness. 


266        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

IV 

The  opposition  of  governments  to  the  missionary 
enterprise  is  a  thing  which  must  not  be  forgotten 
and  which  may  be  expected  to  continue  and,  in  some 
cases,  to  increase. 

As  we  have  seen,  much  favour  and  help  has  been 
received,  and  may  be  expected  from  governments  to 
our  missionary  cause ;  yet  there  are  ways  in  which 
the  missionary  enterprise,  in  its  efforts  to  bring  non- 
Christian  peoples  to  Christ,  is  much  hindered  and 
often  balked  by  the  powers  that  be. 

(a)  Consider  the  attitude  of  non-Christian  gov- 
ernments. 

It  is  true  that,  in  Japan,  where  half  a  century  ago 
the  law  imposed  capital  punishment  upon  any  one 
for  being  a  Christian,  the  government  has  changed 
its  spirit  and  grants  to  all  its  subjects  religious 
liberty  and  freedom  of  conscience. 

Yet  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  ancient 
faiths  of  Japan  are  woven  into  the  very  fabric  of  the 
government.  The  worship  of  the  emperor  is  a  part 
of  their  creed.  Within  these  limitations  it  does  the 
best  it  can  for  religious  liberty.  But  it  cannot  look 
with  the  same  favour  upon  the  Christian,  who  de- 
clines to  bow  to  the  emperor,  as  upon  the  mem- 
bers of  its  other  faiths.  Its  attitude  towards 
Christian  schools,  at  the  present  time,  is  by  no 
means  as  cordial  as  towards  its  own  institutions. 
Christian  institutions  are  still  labouring  under  dis- 
abilities. 

In  China,  one  hardly  knows  whether,  from  day  to 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  267 

day,  the  old  or  the  new  regime  prevails.  By  the 
old,  Christianity  is  regarded  as  an  enemy  obtruding 
itself,  disturbing  the  peace  and  destroying  the  faith 
of  the  country.  Even  the  new  regime  is  not  as  cor- 
dial towards  our  religion  as  some  would  think. 
They  are  willing  to  utilize  it,  indirectly,  for  their 
own  benefit  in  matters  educational,  commercial  and 
political.  We  are  not  so  sure,  however,  that  when 
it  has  accepted  these  by-products  of  our  faith  it  will 
not  turn  its  back  upon  our  religion,  prohibit  its 
efforts  and  deny  its  opportunity  to  expand. 

In  Turkey,  also,  the  situation  is  not  as  hopeful  as 
we  are  sometimes  led  to  believe.  That  government 
is  perfectly  willing  that  the  missionary  propaganda 
may  be  applied  to  the  Christian  communities  of  the 
empire  ;  but  they  object  seriously  to  the  work  of 
proselytizing  any  Moslems  in  the  land.  Dr.  J.  L. 
Barton,  in  his  excellent  book,  "  Daybreak  in 
Turkey,"  tells  us  that  even  when  that  government 
promises  liberty  it  does  not  mean  to  grant  it. 

"  In  spite  of  these  reiterated  declarations,  it  is 
evident  that  the  Turkish  government  does  not,  and 
never  did,  intend  to  acknowledge  the  right  of  a 
Moslem  to  become  a  Christian.  A  high  official  once 
told  the  writer  that  Turkey  gives  to  all  her  subjects 
the  widest  religious  liberty.  He  said,  '  There  is  the 
fullest  liberty  for  the  Armenian  to  become  a  Catho- 
lic, for  the  Greek  to  become  an  Armenian,  for  the 
Catholic  and  Armenian  to  become  Greeks,  for  any 
one  of  them  to  become  Protestant,  or  for  all  to  be- 
come   Mohammedans.     There    is    the    fullest   and 


268        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

completest  religious  liberty  for  all  the  subjects  of 
this  empire.' 

"  In  response  to  the  question,  *  How  about  liberty 
for  the  Mohammedan  to  become  a  Christian?'  he 
replied,  *  That  is  an  impossibility  in  the  nature  of 
the  case.  When  one  has  once  accepted  Islam  and 
become  a  follower  of  the  Prophet  he  cannot  change. 
There  is  no  power  on  earth  that  can  change  him. 
Whatever  he  may  say  or  claim  cannot  alter  the  fact 
that  he  is  a  Moslem  still  and  must  always  be  such. 
It  is,  therefore,  an  absurdity  to  say  that  a  Moslem 
has  the  privilege  of  changing  his  religion,-  for  to  do 
so  is  beyond  his  power.'  For  the  last  forty  years 
the  actions  of  the  official  and  influential  Turks  have 
borne  out  this  theory  of  religious  liberty  in  the 
Ottoman  enipire.  Every  Moslem  showing  interest 
in  Christian  things  takes  his  life  m  his  hands.  No 
protection  can  be  afforded  him  against  the  false 
charges  that  begin  at  once  to  multiply.  His  only 
safety  lies  in  flight."  ^ 

Whether  the  new  Turks,  who  represent  the  ad- 
vanced party  in  Turkey,  mean  to  fulfill  their  pledges 
to  grant  full  religious  liberty  to  every  Mussulman  to 
choose  and  adopt  any  faith  he  pleases,  is  questioned 
by  some  who  are  the  most  competent  to  judge. 
For  the  Moslem  State  and  the  Moslem  faith  are 
essentially  one.  To  abandon  one  has  always  been 
regarded,  in  that  land,  as  antagonizing  the  other. 

{b)  Christian  governments  also  are  not  so  help- 
ful to  the  missionary  cause  as  they  might  be. 

i «  Daybreak  in  Turkey,"  pp.  256,  257. 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  269 

Under  Christian  governments  the  situation  is 
often  a  troublesome  one.  India  is  perhaps  the  best 
illustration  of  a  mission  field  under  the  direction  of 
a  Christian  government.  No  missionary  can  live 
and  work  in  that  land  without  realizing  the  unique 
protection  and  moral  support  which  the  State 
furnishes  him  in  his  missionary  life  and  labours.  It 
is  an  unspeakable  comfort,  as  it  is  a  power  and 
prestige,  to  him. 

This  situation  is  not  without  its  drawbacks,  how- 
ever. The  fact  that  the  foreign  government  shows 
favour  to  the  Christian  tends  to  carry  the  popular 
impression  that  the  religion  is  a  foreign  one  and  that 
its  followers  denationalize  themselves  by  joining  it. 
(I  may  add,  parenthetically,  that  the  same  is  essen- 
tially true  of  the  work  in  the  Philippines  under 
the  American  government.)  There  are  difficulties 
which  he  experiences  at  the  hands  of  civil  officers 
who  too  often  interpret  the  law  of  religious  neutrality 
so  unevenly  as  to  deal  more  severely  with  native 
Christians  than  with  followers  of  other  faiths.  I 
have  seen  this  done  time  and  again  by  Anglo-Indian 
of^cers.  In  Egypt,  especially  in  the  Sudan,  the 
British  government  is  so  anxious  to  pacify  and  con- 
ciliate the  Mussulmans  even  in  the  Gordon  College 
in  Khartoum — a  college  which  was  built  and  endowed 
with  Christian  money  for  Christian  ends — that  it  has 
converted  the  institution  essentially  into  a  Moham- 
medan one  in  which  the  standard  religious  book 
taught  and  commended  is  the  Koran,  and  in  which 
prayers  are  offered  in  accordance  with  the  ritual  of 


270        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

that  faith.  This  would  certainly  seem  to  be  a  per- 
version of  a  trust  and  an  affront  to  the  sacred 
memory  of  that  saintly  Christian  man  whom  it 
commemorates — General  Gordon.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  Christian  missionaries  on  the  field 
protest  against  such  an  act  and  policy. 

The  duty  of  a  missionary  to  protect  his  Christian 
converts  and  to  defend  his  people  against  the 
rapacity  and  the  unspeakable  atrocities  of  a  so- 
called  Christian  ruler  has  recently  been  illustrated  in 
the  Valley  of  the  Congo  in  Africa,  through  the 
charges  presented  by  the  missionaries  against  the 
King  of  Belgium  and  his  minions  in  their  cruel  and 
inhuman  rule  of  that  people.  This  case  also  illus- 
trates the  fact  that  the  messengers  of  Christ,  who 
undertake  to  protect  the  people  against  the  in- 
humanities of  the  powers  that  be,  must  be  prepared 
to  sacrifice  their  reputation  if  not  their  lives  in  the 
cause. 

Western  nations  are  exercising,  to  no  small  extent, 
power  and  influence  over  oriental  peoples  whom  they 
regard  as  their  wards.  Great  Britain,  Germany, 
France,  Italy,  Russia,  and  the  United  States  have 
more  or  less  territory  under  their  control  in  Asia  at 
the  present  time.  Their  object,  generally,  in  this,  is 
political  aggrandizement ;  and  there  is  constant 
danger  lest  the  religious  propaganda,  by  the  mission- 
aries, be  utilized  by  the  government  to  further  their 
political  purpose.  Dr.  Speer  protests  that  **  Western 
nations  will  not  let  missions  escape  from  their  political 
relationship.     Even  if  they  wished  to  escape  they 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  271 

would  not  be  allowed  to  do  so.  Citizens  are  citizens, 
and  each  nation  cannot  do  otherwise  than  keep 
watch  over  its  own.  The  problems  springing  from 
such  simple  watchfulness  and  protection  have  been 
eclipsed  by  the  consequences  of  the  "acts  of  Western 
nations  in  using  missions  as  pretexts  for  invasion  and 
aggrandizement.  A  missionary  pretext  served  Ger- 
many as  the  ground  for  action  in  Africa,  which 
brought  on  the  partitionment  of  the  continent ;  and 
it  was  Germany's  action  in  Shantung,  in  the  seizure 
of  Kiao-Chou  Bay,  which  partly  caused  and  entirely 
precipitated  the  Boxer  uprising.  France  has  been 
guilty  of  more  offenses,  though  no  act  of  hers  has 
yielded  such  tragic  results  as  Germany's  two." 

While  some  claim  that  missionaries  were  the  cause 
of  the  Boxer  trouble  in  China,  William  H.  Taft, 
President  of  the  United  States,  defends  the  mission- 
aries, and  claims  that  '*  Anybody  who  looks  into  the 
subject  knows  that  the  missionaries  were  the  ones 
who  had  to  bear  the  danger  of  it  (the  Boxer  uprising), 
because  they  were  where  the  danger  was ;  but  the 
cause  of  the  Boxer  trouble  came  from  a  sense,  on  the 
part  of  the  Chinaman,  and  he  is  not  without  sense, 
that  there  was  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  a  good 
many  of  the  so-called  Christian  powers  to  divide  up, 
and  the  division  was  going  to  be  between  parts  of 
China.  That  was  their  fear  of  foreign  intervention  ; 
and  they  manifested  it  in  a  plain  way,  and  the 
missionaries,  who  were  among  them  for  the  purpose 
of  spreading  Christian  civilization,  had  to  bear  the 
brunt  of  it." 


272        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

The  connection  between  the  mission  work  and 
national  ambitions  and  international  complications 
must  inevitably  bring  the  missionary  cause  into 
difficulty.  And  though  these  Christian  governments 
doubtless  do  not  mean  to  injure  missions  by  using 
them  as  a  make-weight  in  their  political  ambitions, 
it  inevitably  leads  to  that,  and  creates  a  bitterness  in 
the  mind  of  the  people  whom  we  aim  to  influence 
and  to  convert  such  as  will  bring  its  nemesis  to  our 
missionary  work  later.  The  laws  of  extra-territori- 
ality  in  China  and  elsewhere  are  ostensibly  in  the 
interest  of  missions,  whereas  they  are  really  political 
in  their  significance  and  influence,  and  will  bring 
naught  but  trouble  and  hindrance  to  missions  in  the 
future. 

V 

The  cause  has  also  to  meet  and  overcome  many 
evils  owing  to  the  presence  and  life  of  Western 
Christians  who  reside  in  the  East.  These  men 
flock  into  Asiatic  and  African  ports,  principally 
for  their  own  aggrandizement  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exploiting  the  people.  They  are  all  re- 
garded by  the  natives  as  Christians ;  but  their 
lives  are  utterly  unworthy  and  their  influence  is  de- 
basing and  corrupting  in  those  lands.  Christianity 
is  reproached  by  the  people,  everywhere,  because  of 
the  unworthy  lives  of  these  men.  In  no  sense  are 
they  Christians,  though  they  bear  the  name.  If  ever 
they  had  any  religious  sentiments  they  cast  them,  as 
one  said,  into  the  Gulf  of  Aden  on  their  way  east- 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  273 

ward,  hoping  to  pick  them  up  again  on  their  return 
to  Christendom ! 

Kipling's  skit  was  intended  to  describe  this  class 
of  men  in  their  purpose  and  Hfe : 


Ship  me  somewhere  East  of  Suez 
Where  the  best  is  like  the  worst ; 

Where  there  ain't  no  ten  commandments 
And  a  man  can  raise  a  thirst." 


These  are  the  men  who  bear  false  witness  against 
the  missionaries  wherever  they  go.  The  missionary 
life  and  its  opposition  to  their  own  lives  has  created 
bitter  enmity  in  their  mind.  President  Taft  refers  to 
this  class  and  their  hostility  when  he  says  : 

"  I  do  not  like  to  reflect  upon  anybody.  It  is 
wiser  not  to  be  too  emphatic  and  too  denunciatory, 
but  I  am  bound  to  say  that  in  those  distant  lands,  a 
great  many  who  visit  there  for  gain  and  for  so-called 
business,  for  so-called  livelihood  that  they  could  not 
earn  at  home,  are  not  representatives  of  our  best  ele- 
ments. And  they  visit  there  for  other  purposes  than 
the  spread  of  Christian  civilization.  They  '  take  in  ' 
the  native  when  they  can,  and  they  do  not  impress 
the  native,  who  has  only  them  ta  judge  by,  that  the 
civilization  which  they  represent  would  be  any  great 
improvement  on  that  which  they  have." 

The  life  of  these  men  reveals  all  the  vices  of  the 
East  and  the  West ;  and  they  do  more,  in  those 
Eastern  lands,  to  defile  the  people  and  to  bring  the 
missionary  work  into  disrepute  than  any   one   can 


274        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

realize ;  and,  unfortunately,  their  number  is  con- 
stantly increasing. 

Then  there  are  others  who  are  found  in  those  lands 
who  are  officials  under  the  British  and  other  govern- 
ments, honourable  men  and  men  of  culture  and  po- 
sition, but  men  who  never  lose  an  opportunity  to 
denounce  the  propagators  of  our  faith  because  they 
themselves  have  apparently  lost  their  interest  in 
Christianity.  They  are  "  respectable  "  Christians, 
many  of  them  communicants  in  the  Christian  Church  ; 
yet  they  reveal  not  only  no  desire  for  the  progress 
of  Christ's  Kingdom  in  those  lands,  but  are  in  many 
ways  a  positive  hindrance  to  the  cause,  and  some  of 
the  worst  revilers  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  They 
decline  to  study  missions  on  the  spot,  though  they 
have  every  opportunity  to  do  so.  They  abuse 
roundly  all  native  Christians,  though  they  know 
practically  nothing  about  them.  Many  missionaries 
know  such  men  who  are  friendly  to  them,  person- 
ally, and  who  remain  in  their  district  for  years,  but 
who  decline  to  avail  themselves  of  the  least  oppor- 
tunity to  study  the  work  which  they  are  doing,  or  to 
come  into  touch  with  the  Christian  community  which 
they  are  fostering.  They  return,  by  and  by,  to 
their  native  lands  and,  when  questioned  by  Christian 
friends  as  to  the  progress  of  missions,  they  cover 
their  ignorance  of  the  situation  by  protesting  that 
there  are  no  native  Christians  in  those  lands,  that  the 
missionaries  are  doing  practically  nothing,  and  that 
**  missions  are  a  failure." 

Missionaries  meet  these  men  in  all  lands  of  the 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  275 

East  and  find  them  unfriendly  to  their  efforts,  and  fail 
to  inspire  in  them  any  interest  whatever  in  the  work 
which  they  are  doing.  The  example  of  such  men  on 
the  mission  fields,  men  who  bear  the  Christian  name 
and  yet  who  will  not  help,  but  antagonize,  the  mis- 
sionary endeavour,  constitutes  a  serious  obstacle  to 
our  faith  in  those  lands.-  One  such  man  can  do  more 
to  hinder  the  progress  of  Christ's  Kingdom  in  those 
countries  than  an  ordinary  missionary  to  forward  the 
same. 

May  the  day  soon  come  when  our  Christian  gov- 
ernments in  the  West  shall  send  forth,  as  their  official 
representatives,  men  who  are  genuinely  Christian 
and  who  realize  that  Christ  demands  that  every  one 
of  His  followers  give  himself  to  the  furtherance  of 
His  Kingdom  among  non-Christian  people. 

VI 

The  growing  influence  of  Eastern  thought  and  in- 
stitutions is  a  serious  obstacle  to  our  work  in  these 
days.  The  developing  power  of  the  East  over  the 
West,  in  this  particular,  is  somewhat  striking.  In 
the  United  States,  at  the  present  time,  three  things 
are  exerting  a  strange  influence  over  our  people  and 
are  spreading  marvellously.  In  the  first  place  we 
see  Christian  Science  and  the 'astonishing  way  in 
which  it  has  spread,  recently.  What  is  Christian 
Science  ?  It  is  nothing  else  than  the  idealistic  phi- 
losophy of  India  unequally  yoked  to  a  certain  type 
of  Christian  life.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  pro- 
foundest  of  all  Hindu  types  of  thought  entering  into 


276        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

our  faith  and  helping  it  to  achieve  a  strange  influence 
and  rapid  progress  throughout  this  country. 

What  is  the  monistic  type  of  thought,  which  has 
penetrated  our  theology  and  is  dominating  so  re- 
markably the  Christian  philosophy  of  this  day  ?  It 
is  a  certain  aspect  and  expression  of  the  pantheism 
which  has  dominated  the  religious  thought  of  India 
for  more  than  thirty  centuries.  In  Western  monism 
the  oriental  article  has  been  somewhat  modified,  but 
the  essence  is  the  same,  and  the  issue  may  be  the 
same. 

Theosophy  also  has  found  a  most  encouraging  en- 
trance into  American  life  during  the  last  few  years, 
and  has,  thereby,  brought  thousands  of  our  people 
into  a  thoughtless  acceptance  of  oriental  occultism 
and  to  a  (pandering  after  the  mysteries  of  the  East. 
Think  af  the  many  intelligent  people,  especially 
among  the  weaker  sex,  who  seem  to  find  nourish- 
ment these  days  in  the  sweet,  honeyed  words,  but 
useless  and  unavailing  thought,  of  the  Hindu  Swamis 
who  are  found  at  many  centres  in  this  land  ! 

Now,  all  this  has  not  only  its  influence  upon  our 
own  country,  it  has  also  a  marked  influence  upon 
the  people  of  the  East.  It  has  brought  to  them  a 
new  consciousness  of  their  own  power  and  impor- 
tance, and  a  new  aggressiveness  in  the  propagation 
of  their  own  faith,  as  well  as  in  their  attacks  upon 
our  religion.  Many  Eastern  people  who,  a  few 
years  ago,  were  kindly  disposed  towards  Christian- 
ity, have  recently,  under  the  guidance  and  inspira- 
tions of  Westerners,  come  to  have  a  new  confidence 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  277 

in  their  own  religion,  and  to  regard  it  with  a  greater 
esteem  and  affection  than  ever  before.  A  few  years 
ago  many  men  were  prepared  to  admit  the  superi- 
ority of  the  religion  of  Christ  to  their  own  and  other 
religions.  To-day  they  have  returned  in  confidence 
and  attachment  to  their  own  ancestral  faith,  and  de- 
nounce all  other  religions  with  vehemence. 

The  influence  of  Christianity,  in  carrying  men 
away  from  their  old  religious  moorings,  has  not 
brought  them  into  its  own  fold  so  much  as  it  has 
led  them  to  establish  reform  movements  which  are 
in  some  cases  far  from  being  Christian.  In  India 
the  Arya-Somaj  is  a  genuine  religious  reform,  re- 
vealing a  marked  advance  beyond  orthodox  Hindu- 
ism and  opposing  it  at  many  points.  Still,  it  is  more 
bitterly  anti-Christian  than  it  is  opposed  to  the  old 
Hindu  faith.  This  movement,  which  brought  much 
encouragement  to  missionaries  a  few  years  ago,  has 
developed  into  an  organization  and  a  propaganda 
which  is  the  most  bitter  in  its  hostility  to  Christian- 
ity that  missionaries  have  ever  known  in  North 
India. 

Even  the  education  that  we  impart  to  many  of  the 
youths  of  India  and  Japan  is  often  utilized  by  them 
to  produce  new  arguments  against  our  own  religion 
rather  than  to  tear  down  their  o^n  decadent  faith. 

All  of  this  only  tends  to  show  that  the  resources 
of  those  religions  of  the  East  against  our  cause  are 
by  no  means  exhausted.  New  thoughts  and  plans 
will  arise  every  year  to  frustrate,  so  far  as  possible, 
the  missionary  cause.     Every  new  instrument  that 


278        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

our  Western  education,  Western  enterprise  and  or- 
ganizing power  can  bring  to  bear  upon  the  East  will 
be,  to  some  extent,  turned  as  a  weapon  against  mis- 
sions, and  will  delay  the  day  when  the  people  of 
those  lands  will  heartily  enter  our  faith  and  give 
themselves  entirely  unto   the  Lord. 

VII 

I  mention  all  these  elements  in  the  magnitude  of 
the  missionary  work,  not  with  a  view  to  discourage 
any  one.  In  the  missionary  vocabulary  there  is  no 
such  word  as  "  discouragement."  They  are  re- 
hearsed here  in  the  interest  of  truth,  and  with  the 
purpose  of  giving  both  sides  of  the  problem  before 
us.  It  never  pays  a  man  or  a  woman  to  close  the 
eyes  to  obstacles  and  difficulties.  It  is  unwise  to 
disparage  an  enemy  or  to  minimize  an  antagonizing 
force.  It  is  of  supreme  importance  to  remember 
that  the  work  to  which  we  are  pledged  is  unspeak- 
ably great  as  it  is  inexpressibly  arduous.  It  is  not 
a  surface  work  which  can  be  rushed  through  in  a 
day  or  completed  in  a  year. 

There  is  serious  danger  lest  the  Church  fail  to  re- 
alize the  heroic  and  colossal  proportions  of  its  un- 
dertaking. Mr.  W.  T.  Ellis  expresses  well  the 
thought,  though  with  unfortunate  sarcasm,  in  the 
following  words : 

"There  is  a  fascination  about  the  watchword, 
*  The  Evangelization  of  the  World  in  This  Genera- 
tion.' Underlying  it  is  a  subtle  compliment  to  the 
persons  who  adopt  it.     Does  it  not  imply  that,  al- 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  279 

though  the  generations  of  Christian  effort  in  the  past 
have  failed  to  transfer  the  world's  allegiance  to 
its  Redeemer,  now  that  we  have  come  on  the 
scene,  things  will  be  different?  Our  fathers  were 
not  of  our  calibre  or  of  our  class.-  Good  and  pious 
they  were ;  but  we  are  world-statesmen  and  empire- 
builders,  and  we  are  surely  equal  to  this  great  en- 
deavour. So  we  find  the  modern  students,  and  now, 
in  increasing  throngs,  the  laymen,  cantering  jauntily 
into  the  arena,  confident  that  they  will  do  the  task 
before  sunset.  With  all  appreciation  of  the  earnest- 
ness and  sincerity  of  most  of  the  newly-aroused  lay- 
men who  have  suddenly  caught  a  vision  of  the  fields 
white  unto  the  harvest,  it  may  yet  be  permitted  to 
renlind  them  that  a  degree  of  humility  and  self-dis- 
trust would  not  be  unbecoming  in  this  emergence 
into  an  enlarged  sphere." 

I  have  not  the  slightest  idea  that  the  men  criticized 
by  Mr.  Ellis  are  either  thoughtless  or  egotistic ;  I 
only  think  that  they  and  all  others  need  to  have  a 
proper  perspective  and  to  realize  to  the  full,  not  only 
the  certainty  of  our  ultimate  triumph  in  this  great 
work,  but  also  the  greatness  of  the  task  which  the 
Church  has  undertaken  in  its  missionary  enterprise. 

A  distinguished  leader  of  the  Young  People's 
Movement  recently  wrote  to  me  the  following  sane, 
significant  words: 

*'  It  seems  to  me  very  important  that  the  Church 
should  be  made  to  realize  that  the  conflict  is  to  be  a 
siege  and  not  an  assault.  It  is  easier  to  talk  about 
evangelizing  the  world  in  a  generation  than  it  is  to 


28o        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

carry  the  effort  out  in  the  fields  that  are  so  little 
known  to  those  who  hear  the  popular  appeals  now 
being  made.  It  seems  to  me  that  nothing  is  gained 
by  superficial  consideration  of  the  conditions  in 
non-Christian  lands.  If  the  Church  cannot  be 
brought  to  realize  that  the  wide-spread  adoption  of 
Christianity  involves  thorough  leavening  of  the 
social,  philosophical,  and  religious  conceptions  of 
these  lands,  there  will  be  a  reaction  following  the 
present  wave  of  enthusiasm  on  behalf  of  foreign 
missions.  There  are  two  classes  of  people  in  the 
evangelization  of  the  world.  One  is  composed  of 
those  who  are  Christians  and  are  labouring  on  be- 
half of  those  who  are  not  Christians.  The  other 
class  is  composed  of  the  non-Christian  people  who 
have  not  ypt  been  led  to  the  point  where  they  are 
willing  to  accept  Christianity.  This  latter  class  is 
not  going  to  be  moved  by  the  mere  wish  that  they 
should  accept  Christianity.  There  must  be  an 
adequate  cause  for  the  desired  result,  and  as  far  as 
can  now  be  seen,  the  cause  will  need  to  be  applied 
for  many  decades  to  come  in  each  of  the  non- 
Christian  nations  of  the  earth." 

Nor  is  this  chapter  written  in  the  interest  of 
pessimism.  It  is  rather  with  the  purpose  of  throw- 
ing the  Church  from  an  emphasis  upon  its  own 
resources  into  the  living  consciousness  and  con- 
viction that  this  is  not  man's  work,  but  rather  a 
divine  enterprise. 

Dr.  W.  N.  Clarke  insists  that  "  the  first  of  the 
immediate  needs  in  missions  is  the  requickening  of 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  281 

faith  in  the  hving  God  and  Saviour.  The  modern 
missionary  endeavour  was  begun  under  the  impulse 
of  such  a  faith.  It  is  a  perpetual  necessity,  but  the 
need  is  specialized  just  now.  A  simple,  available, 
instructive,  working  confidence  in  God  the  Saviour  is 
not  as  effective  in  the  mass  of  Christians  now  as  it  was 
in  those  who  started  th^  work  of  modern  missions. 

"The  vigour  of  the  missionary  endeavour  depends 
upon  the  continuance  of  such  a  sense  of  the  reality 
of  God  and  His  saving  grace.  If  it  droops  it  must 
be  revived."  ^ 

We  specially  need  this  faith  in  the  truth  that  God 
is  in  the  forefront  of  this  missionary  battle  for  con- 
quest. He  must  carry  this  work  through.  He  has 
had  it  in  hand  from  the  very  first,  and  He  will  bring  it 
to  its  ultimate  consummation.  It  is  a  '•  man's  job  "  ; 
but  it  is  infinitely  more  than  that,  and  every  man 
must  be  made  to  realize  this  and  his  inadequacy 
and  the  inadequacy  of  the  whole  Church  to  accom- 
plish this  work. 

Patient  waiting,  also,  is  the  great  need  of  the 
Western  Church.  The  missionary  enterprise  is  not 
an  onrush  to  victory,  but  a  resolute  continuance  in 
service  until  "  The  Day  of  the  Lord  comes,"  when 
He  will  perfect  that  which  is  wanting  in  His  Church 
and  use  it  in  this  redemptive  work  until  the  Church 
triumphant  shall  sing  that  song  of  victory  which 
proclaims  "  that  the  Kingdoms  of  this  world  have 
become  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  His  Christ, 
and  He  shall  reign  forever  and  ever." 

1  «*  A  Study  of  Christian  Missions,"  pp.  197-200. 


282        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

I  also  desire  to  emphasize,  through  this  chapter, 
the  need  of  prayer.  Prayer  as  a  regenerating  and 
saving  force  in  the  world  has  been  much  overlooked 
and  neglected.  It  needs  to  be  rehabilitated  as  the 
mightiest  spiritual  dynamic  known  to  man.  "  Be- 
lieve me,  more  things  are  wrought  by  prayer  than 
the  world  dreams  of."  Yes,  and  more  than  the 
Church  dreams  of.  It  is  by  agonizing  in  prayer 
with  God  that  the  mightiest  resources  of  heaven  can 
be  won  and  utilized  ;  and  thus  preeminently  is  this 
work  to  find  ultimate  accomplishment. 

Two  years  ago  the  writer  stood,  with  a  thousand 
other  Christian  endeavourers,  on  ''The  Prayer 
Meeting  Hill,"  in  Ongole,  South  India.  It  was 
there  that  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Jewett,  with  a  few  Indian 
Christians,  1  met,  early  one  morning,  nearly  half  a 
century  ago,  to  pray.  Their  missionary  labours  had 
not  been  very  fruitful ;  few  souls  were  responding  to 
the  gospel  call.  Their  hearts  were  yearning  for  a 
success  which  seemed  denied  to  them.  With  deep 
earnestness  they  poured  their  souls'  burden  before 
God  that  morning  on  the  hill.  They  prayed  that, 
in  the  villages  spread  over  the  plains  before  them, 
the  inhabitants  might  be  brought  to  Christ  for 
salvation,  and  that  a  vacant  plot  of  land  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill  might  be  given  to  the  mission  for  a 
habitation.  God  answered  those  prayers  of  faith  in 
a  remarkable  way.  For,  at  the  closing  session  of 
our  Christian  Endeavour  Convention  we  could  look 
upon  those  same  villages  and  lo  I  twenty-five  thou- 
sand   Christians    were    among    their    inhabitants ! 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  283 

Had  we  the  power  to  behold  all  the  villages  and 
towns  within  a  radius  of  seventy-five  miles  from 
where  we  stood  we  might  have  seen  an  army  of 
nearly  200,000  Christian  men  and  women  brought 
out  of  heathenism  during  this  same  half  century. 

Moreover,  on  that  plot  of  land  at  the  foot  of  the 
hill,  we  looked  upon  a  Christian  college  with  its 
hundreds  of  students,  two  large  boarding-schools,  a 
flourishing  industrial  establishment,  a  hospital,  four 
missionary  homes,  a  church  which  accommodated  a 
thousand  people,  and  a  new  church  rising,  near  by, 
to  accommodate  an  audience  of  fifteen  hundred. 

What  hath  the  Lord  wrought  in  answer  to  the 
prayer  of  faith  offered  by  these  devoted  servants  half 
a  century  ago ! 

The  prayer  of  the  Church  must  find  a  larger  place  in 
the  missionary  programme.  It  must  bring  the  Chris- 
tian worker  into  more  intimate  relations  with  the 
Source  of  all  power  and  the  Assurance  of  ultimate 
success. 


IX 

The   New   Response   of  the    Church   to   the 
Challenge 

TO-DAY,  beyond  any  other  time  since  apos- 
tolic days,  the  Church  of  God  is  Ustening  to 
this  challenge,  and  is  awaking  to  its  oppor- 
tunity and  responsibility. 

This,  however,  is  not  saying  very  much.  For,  in 
the  past,  the  Church  has  been  woefully  self-centred 
in  its  spirit,  narrow  in  its  sympathies,  and  with  no 
broad  horizon  to  its  activities. 

To-day,  also,  there  is  a  lack  of  general  interest  and 
purpose  in  the  missionary  effort.  Not  more  than 
sixty  per  cent,  of  the  churches  in  America  contribute 
anything  to  foreign  missions.  It  is  a  lamentable 
fact  that  there  are  many  thousand  churches  in  our 
land  of  light  and  progress  that  have  no  interest  what- 
ever in  the  great  Cause  beyond  their  own  country. 
The  non-Christian  world  does  not  appeal  to  them. 
They  are  absorbed  in  their  own  affairs  and  listen 
with  languid  interest  to  cries  from  without. 

Even  in  the  contributing  churches,  only  one- 
fourth  of  the  membership  give  anything  towards  the 
prosecution  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  In  these 
churches,  also,  the  members  who  are  actively  and 
deeply  interested  in  missions  are  a  small  fraction. 

In  twenty  of  the  leading  denominations  of  the 
284 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge     285 

United  States  the  living  church-n^embers,  in  1909, 
gave  an  average  per  capita  of  Si  1.40  for  their  own 
work  and  work  in  their  own  land  ;  while,  for  foreign 
missionar}'  work,  they  gave  only  seventy-two  cents 
per  capita.^ 

Xot  a  few  churches  give  no  place  to  missionarv' 
plea  or  advocacy.  The  pastors  are  told  definitely 
by  their  people  that  neither  missionar}'  nor  mission- 
arv'  secretar}'  '*  need  apply  "  for  opportunity  to  speak 
in  their  pulpit.  In  more  than  one  church  I  have 
been  introduced  by  the  pastors  into  their  Sunday 
services  under  false  pretenses,  or  through  guile, 
simply  because,  were  it  known  beforehand  that  a 
missionary  address  was  to  be  given,  many  of  the 
audience  would  stay  away,  including,  specially,  the 
men  of  wealth. 

Missionary'  meetings  are  still  unpopular  and  very 
meagrely  attended.  Even  now  it  requires  a 
"  dinner  "  or  a  *'  banquet  "  as  a  bait  to  gather  men 
into  public  missionary  meetings  ! 

The  missionary  prayer-meeting,  or  **  Monthly 
Concert,"  has,  in  most  churches,  been  abandoned 
and  no  substitute,  to  arouse  missionar}-  interest,  has 
taken  its  place  in  the  Church. 

Missionar}'  addresses,  in  order  to  be  popular,  must 
be  resolved  largely  into  tearful  appeals  and  exciting 
narrative.  Missionar}^  literature  is  thrown  into  the 
waste  basket,  if  not  full  of  romance  and  glowing 
with    illustration.     The    Church's    appetite  for  mis- 

1  See  the  Report  of  Commission  VI  (Home  Base  of  Missions)  which 
is  a  profound  study  of  this  whole  subject 


286        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

sionary  information  is  morbid  and  will  not  be  properly 
or  normally  excited.  All  crave  too  much  the  stimu- 
lus of  thrilling,  hairbreadth  deliverances  and  amus- 
ing anecdotes. 

After  recent  extensive  journey ings  in  half  the 
States  of  the  Union  on  missionary  deputation  work 
and  in  **  campaigns "  many,  I  have  been  much  im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that  the  Church  of  God  is  still 
narrow  in  its  sympathies  and  that,  in  its  prayers  and 
activities,  its  horizon  is  still  a  sadly  limited  one. 

But  I  believe  that  the  dawn  of  a  new  missionary 
day  is  breaking.  The  missionary  consciousness  of 
the  Church,  as  we  saw  in  Chapter  I,  is  now  asserting 
itself.  Leaders  of  the  Church  are  rousing  them- 
selves and  stirring  their  people  to  rise  to  the  glory 
of  the  newt  world  vision.  They  now  begin  to  realize 
that  the  missionary  business  is  the  chief  business  of 
the  Church  (at  least  a  growing  number  of  them  do) 
and  not  an  optional  thing  which  it  may  occasionally 
take  up  in  order  to  amuse  itself,  to  soothe  its  feelings 
or  to  accumulate  a  store  of  surplus  complacency 
and  merit. 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  had  the  vision  and 
well  expressed  it  at  the  recent  World  Missionary 
Conference  ;  and  in  it  he  voiced  the  sentiment  of  that 
great  gathering. 

*-  The  place  of  missions  in  the  life  of  the  Church 
must  have  the  central  place  and  none  other.  That 
is  what  matters.  Let  people  get  hold  of  that,  and  it 
will  tell — it  is  the  merest  commonplace  to  say  it — it 
will  tell  for  us  at  home  as  it  will  tell  for  those  afield. 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    287 

Secure  for  that  thought  its  true  place,  in  our  plans, 
our  policy,  our  prayers,  and  then — why  then,  the 
issue  is  His,  not  ours.  But  it  may  well  be  that  if 
that  come  true,  '  there  be  some  standing  here  who 
shall  not  taste  of  death  till  they  see '  here  on  earth, 
in  a  way  we  know  not  now,  *  the  Kingdom  of  God 
come  with  power.'  " 

The  pulsations  of  the  heart  of  the  Church  of  God 
have  recently  accelerated  and  its  love  has  deepened 
and  broadened.  Nothing,  in  all  the  history  of  Chris- 
tianity, revealed  this  more  markedly  than  the  recent 
World  Missionary  Conference  at  Edinburgh. 

On  that  occasion  were  gathered  a  host  of  distin- 
guished men  and  women  from  all  lands  of  the  earth. 
They  were  accompanied  by  five  hundred  mission- 
aries from  **  the  far  flung  battle-line "  in  all  non- 
Christian  countries.  They  included  also  not  a  few 
notable  converts  from  Asia  and  Africa — men  and 
women  who  are  the  trophies  of  this  great  conquest 
and  are  worthy  to  represent  the  native  Church  in 
the  distant  lands.  These  were  among  the  most 
acceptable  speakers  in  all  the  Conference  meetings. 

Messages  of  sympathy  and  appreciation  were  re- 
ceived from  all  countries  and  from  many  men  of 
distinction  and  power.  These^  were  headed  by  the 
message  of  the  King  Emperor  of  Great  Britain,  in 
which  it  is  said  that : 

"His  Majesty  views  with  gratification  the  fraternal 
cooperation  of  so  many  churches  and  societies  in  the 
United  States,  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  in  the 
British   Empire,  in  the  work  of  disseminating  the 


288        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

knowledge  and  principles  of  Christianity  by  Chris- 
tian methods  throughout  the  world.  The  King  ap- 
preciates the  supreme  importance  of  this  work  in  its 
bearing  upon  the  cementing  of  international  friend- 
ship, the  cause  of  peace,  and  the  well-being  of  man- 
kind.'^ 

In  several  respects  this  Conference  will  be  memo- 
rable and  historic.  It  was  remarkable  in  its  enthu- 
siasm. Never  before  were  there  gathered  together 
so  many  men  and  women  who  were  burning  with  a 
great  enthusiasm  for  this  world  conquest  in  the  name 
of  Christ.  There  was  a  spiritual  contagion  filling 
those  halls  during  every  meeting ;  and  the  spirit  of 
prayer  and  consecration  was  inexpressibly  beautiful  as 
it  was  quickening  to  all  who  attended.  The  prayers 
and  the  songs  of  praise  of  the  Conference  will  pass 
on  in  a  gracious  influence  upon  the  whole  Church. 

It  was  notable  also  for  its  wisdom.  Literally  hun- 
dreds of  ecclesiastical  leaders,  statesmen,  authors  and 
orators — men  whose  fame  is  world-wide — were  in 
attendance  at  this  Conference,  consulting  together 
concerning  this  great  work  of  God.  The  reports  of 
the  eight  Commissions  and  the  discussion  upon  the 
same  wnll  constitute  a  series  of  missionary  volumes 
which  will  doubtless  eclipse  all  that  have  preceded 
them  in  their  breadth  of  vision,  abundance  of  historic 
material,  and  statesmanlike  treatment. 

The  spirit  of  hopefulness,  which  pervaded  this 
Conference,  was  contagious  and  inspiring.  The 
colossal  task  before  the  Church  was  realized  as  never 
before,  and  so  were  the  resources  of  God  and  of  His 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge     289 

Church  to  carry  out  that  task.  The  new  assurance 
of  the  divine  promise  and  a  new  consciousness  of 
fellowship  in  this  service  created  a  remarkable  spirit 
of  confidence  and  developed  an  atmosphere  of  hope- 
fulness  perhaps  never  before  equalled  in  any  mission- 
ary gathering. 

But  the  most  remarkable  thing  of  all  in  that  Con- 
ference was  the  spirit  of  Christian  union  revealed  in 
all  its  sessions.  Never,  in  all  the  past  history  of  the 
Church,  were  there  gathered  together  the  delegated 
representatives  of  so  many  Christian  bodies  to  con- 
fer concerning  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
Never  before  did  they  realize  so  fully  and  enjoy  so 
richly  the  spirit  of  fellowship  and  of  communion  as 
they  did  during  all  the  sessions  of  this  Conference. 
In  no  other  cause  could  so  many  men  of  such  di- 
verse views  and  from  hitherto  irreconcilable  sections 
of  the  Church,  thus  meet  together  and  consult  with 
each  other  in  the  spirit  of  amity  and  comity  as  they 
did  upon  this  occasion  and  in  the  furtherance  of  this 
missionary  enterprise.  Though  more  Christian 
communions  were  met  together  at  this  time  than- 
ever  before,  there  was  hardly  a  w^ord  spoken  to  mar 
the  peace  or  disturb  the  harmony  of  the  Conference. 
It  was  felt  through  all  the  meetings  that  in  this  com- 
mon work  the  Church  of  God  is  to  find  increasingly 
its  highest  impulse  and  aid  to  fellowship  and  unity. 

I 

Let  us  consider  some  of  the  new  missionary  move- 
ments which  are  to  be  found  within  and  around  the 


290        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

Church  at  the  present  time.  These  are  many,  sig- 
nificant, and  full  of  hope  for  the  future. 

The  organized  activity  of  the  women  for  mission- 
ary work  is  that  which  will  first  impress  one.  It  was 
only  a  few  years  ago  that  the  Christian  woman  dis- 
covered herself  and  became  a  force  in  the  Church  of 
God.  She  then  organized  for  systematic  effort  and 
consecrated  activity  for  the  salvation  of  her  sister  in 
heathen  lands.  The  uprising  of  the  women,  in  this 
missionary  activity,  has  been  astonishing.  They 
have  not  only  revealed  a  distinct  power  for  organi- 
zation ;  they  have  also  surpassed  the  men  in  their 
consecrated  devotion  to  the  cause  for  which  they 
have  organized.  Their  auxiliary  missionary  so- 
cieties are  finely  equipped  and  are  doing  splendid 
work — not  an  inconsiderable  part  of  the  Church's 
work  for  the  missionary  cause.  Their  repre- 
sentatives, on  the  mission  field,  are  almost  as  nu- 
merous as  the  men  who  have  been  sent  out  by  the 
Church,  and  are  giving  themselves  with  remarkable 
ability  and  with  a  wonderful  consecration  of  all  their 
talents,  to  this  great  service.  And  they  and  their 
work  are  supported  by  their  organized  sisters  in 
these  lands  of  the  West  in  a  way  which  challenges 
the  admiration  of  the  world. 

Consider  also  the  movement  which  has  recently 
come  into  existence  among  the  men  of  the  Churches. 

The  laymen  of  America  were  the  last  to  respond 
to  the  missionary  call,  as  they  were  to  all  other 
Church  appeals.  During  the  last  generation  the 
layman  took  a  back  seat  in  the  activities  of  God's 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    291 

Church  and  relegated  his  Christian  duties  largely  to 
his  wife  and  daughter  that  he  might  give  himself 
the  more  absolutely  to  his  business  and  commercial 
enterprises.  His  interest  in  the  Church  seemed  to 
grow  weaker  and  his  efforts  fewer  and  fewer  in  di- 
rect Christian  service.  One  has  facetiously  repre- 
sented his  position  through  the  parody : 

**In  the  world's  broad  field  of  battle 
In  the  bivouac  of  life 
You  will  always  find  the  Christian 
Represented  by  his  wife." 

No  Christian  challenge  found  in  him  a  response  for 
many  years.  He  was  appealed  to  in  vain.  He  heard 
not  the  call,^ 

"  Move  to  the  fore, 
Say  not  another  is  fitter  than  thou, 
Shame  to  thy  shrinking,  up  to  thy  task  now. 
Own  thyself  equal  to  all  a  soul  may, 
Cease  thy  evading ;  God  needs  thee  to-day — 
Move  to  the  fore. 

"  Move  to  the  fore, 
God  Himself  waits  and  must  wait  till  thou  come ; 
Men  are  God's  prophets  though  ages  lie  dumb; 
Halts  the  Christ  Kingdom  with  conquest  so  near. 
Thou  art  the  cause,  for  thy  soul's  in  the  rear — 
Move  to  the  fore.*\ 

But  the  challenge  of  these  words  has  been  recently 
accepted  by  many  thousands  of  the  laymen  of  our 
country  who  are  **  moving  to  the  fore  **  and  are  tak- 
ing their  place  of  responsibility  and  of  activity  in  the 
world  missionary  service.     Nothing  has  been  more 


292         The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

cheering  during  the  last  few  years  than  the  way 
the  men  of  our  churches  have  hstened  to  this  call 
and  have  accepted  their  share  in  the  activities  of  the 
Church. 

In  all  parts  of  America,  at  least,  they  are  begin- 
ning to  organize  and  are  determined  to  do  their 
share  of  the  work  of  God's  Kingdom. 

In  the  first  place  we  have  the  Christian  Brother- 
hoods, which  are  already  doing  a  noble  work,  in 
their  way,  for  the  development  of  the  manhood  of 
the  Church  and  for  the  guidance  and  direction  of  its 
boyhood.  More  than  a  dozen  great  Brotherhoods, 
representing  the  men  of  as  many  denominations, 
have  a  membership  of  more  than  1,000,000  men 
whose  thoughts  are  directed  and  whose  souls  are  in- 
spired to  |io  ''  the  man's  job  "  in  the  Church.  The 
interests  of  the  Church  and  their  opportunity  in  for- 
warding the  same  are  specially  brought  home  to  the 
men  through  these  Brotherhoods.  Like  one  great 
army  these  men  are  marching,  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
with  one  great  purpose  to  develop  and  to  put  into 
full  exercise  all  the  masculine  qualities  of  the  mem- 
bership of  the  Church. 

Then  comes  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement. 
Concerning  this  Movement  one  can  speak  in  the  su- 
perlative. It  is  distinctly  a  "movement"  rather 
than  an  organization.  It  is  a  mighty,  concerted,  im- 
petuous effort  to  bring  adult  men  of  the  Church  to 
know,  to  feel,  to  acknowledge  and  to  accept  the  mis- 
sionary responsibility.  It  is  distinctly  a  missionary 
movement,  thus  far.     It  began  only  in  1906  in  con- 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge     293 

nection  with  the  commemoration  of  the  centenary 
of  the  famous  **  Haystack  Prayer-meeting."  The 
conception  germinated  in  connection  with  the  Stu- 
dent Volunteer  Movement.  When  it  was  remem- 
bered that  so  many  young  men  and  women  were 
pledging  themselves  to  future  missionary  work,  the 
question  was  raised,  "Shall  not  the  men  of  the  Church 
dedicate  their  wealth  to  the  support  of  these  con- 
secrated youth  ? "  It  was  out  of  this  thought,  in- 
quiry and  discussion  that  the  Laymen's  Movement 
came  into  existence.  It  was  really  a  challenge  of 
the  men  of  the  Church  to  the  young  Student  Volun- 
teers, saying  to  them,  *'  If  you  are  willing  to  give 
your  life  for  the  heathen  we  also  will  consecrate  our 
money  to  your  maintenance  and  to  the  support  of 
your  work." 

During  the  present  year  this  Movement  has  spread 
all  over  America — Canada  and  the  United  States. 
More  than  one  hundred  of  the  principal  centres  of 
population  and  of  Christian  power  were  visited  by 
this  Movement.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  men 
were  gathered  into  its  Conferences,  many  thousands 
of  whom  received  a  baptism  of  great  blessing  and 
rededicated  themselves,  not  simply  to  a  Christian 
life,  but  to  a  missionary  activity  in  support  of  the  en- 
deavours of  the  Church  for  the  redemption  of  our  race. 

One  striking  thing  concerning  this  Movement  is 
its  interdenominational  character.  It  ignores  sec- 
tarian lines  and  brings  all  the  communions  of  a  cer- 
tain area  together,  first  into  a  fellowship  and  then 
into  united  action  for  the  increase  of  the  benevolences 


294        1'^^  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

of  the  Churches  for  the  missionary  cause.  This  in- 
terdenominational character  of  the  Movement  has 
wrought  mightily,  not  only  in  uniting  men  of  all 
races  together,  but  also  in  demolishing  those  hedges 
which  separate  one  sect  from  another  and  in  bring- 
ing these  men  of  various  denominations  into  close, 
vital  fellowship  with  each  other  in  this  great  enter- 
prise of  the  Church.  Thus  it  is  accomplishing  two 
supremely  important  things  ;  it  is  bringing  the  men 
of  the  Christian  Church  in  America  into  active  fel- 
lowship with  each  other,  as  it  is  also  bringing  them 
into  closest  touch  with  the  world,  and  is  thus  achiev- 
ing wonders  in  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Financially,  the  Movement  has  already  given  an 
impetus  to  the  missionary  offerings  of  the  Church. 
Many  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  added  beyond 
the  ordinary  income  of  the  Church  for  its  missionary 
work. 

The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  is  another  of 
those  inspiring  organizations  for  the  young  which  is 
still  in  its  infancy.  It  originated  at  Northfield — that 
centre  where  so  many  Christian  enthusiasms  have 
found  their  source.  This  again  is  not  so  much  of  an 
organization  as  it  is  a  movement  which  was  started 
by  Christian  young  men  of  vision  and  of  missionary 
consecration.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  college  stu- 
dents met  together,  at  Mr.  Moody's  invitation,  for  a 
new  type  of  Missionary  Conference.  Before  that 
Conference  closed  one  hundred  of  these  young  peo- 
ple had  dedicated  themselves  to  missionary  life  and 
service. 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    295 

This  Movement  there  found  its  inception  and  di- 
rection. It  is  a  recruiting  agency  for  the  missionary- 
host.  Those  who  become  Volunteers  are  expected 
to  offer  themselves  as  missionaries  for  their  own  de- 
nominational societies.  The  Movement  is  definitely 
and  heartily  loyal  to  the  Church  itself.  Volunteers 
are  drawn  only  from  -institutions  of  higher  learning 
in  America.  Each  Volunteer  signs  the  following 
declaration  : 

*'  It  is  my  purpose,  if  God  permit,  to  become  a 
foreign  missionary."  Many  thousands  of  young 
students  have  already  signed  this,  and  have  inspired 
each  other  to  a  complete  dedication  to  this  work. 
Already  more  than  4,500  of  these  have  reached  the 
mission  field  as  missionaries  of  more  than  fifty  dif- 
ferent societies  of  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
One-third  of  the  Volunteers  are  women.  These  stu- 
dents were  connected  with  one  thousand  higher  in- 
stitutions of  learning  on  this  continent  in  which  more 
than  250,000  students  are  matriculated.  They  have 
entered  all  departments  of  missionary  service  and  are 
located  in  all  parts  of  the  non-Christian  world.  It  is 
claimed  that  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  them  mention 
the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  as  the  definite 
cause  of  their  entry  into  missionary  service. 

The  Movement  has  also  spread  into  Great  Britain 
where  it  began  its  activities  in  1892.  Since  then, 
nearly  3,500  have  entered  missionary  service  as  a 
definite  result  of  the  Movement  in  that  land. 

The  principal  work  of  the  Movement  is  found  in 
our  higher  institutions  of  learning,  in  presenting  to 


296        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

as  many  students  as  possible  the  direct  missionary 
appeal,  and  in  inducing  them,  as  we  shall  see  later, 
to  study  carefully  and  sympathetically  the  mission- 
ary problem.  It  is  said  that  the  number  of  students 
who  intend  to  become  missionaries  is  over  five  times 
as  great  in  the  colleges,  and  fully  twice  as  great  in 
the  theological  seminaries,  as  was  the  case  when  the 
Volunteer  Movement  was  inaugurated.  This  in  itself 
is  a  remarkable  result  of  which  any  organization 
might  be  proud. 

For  the  purpose  of  interesting  these  students  in 
the  cause.  Mission  Study  Classes  have  been  organ- 
ized by  this  Movement  in  600  different  institutions. 
There  are  now  more  than  2,100  classes  which  have 
an  enrollment  of  nearly  26,000  students.  Thus  these 
promising  young  people  are  systematically  trained 
in  the  missionary  enterprise  and  are  imbibing  its 
spirit  even  before  they  become  Volunteers.  With  a 
view  to  securing  proper  books  for  study,  the  Move- 
ment has  prepared  thirty  different  courses  and  has 
had  them  published  and  distributed  among  its  stu- 
dents. 

It  has  also  taken  up  work  in  the  theological  sem- 
inaries and  has  enlisted  professors  to  enter  sympa- 
thetically into  the  work  and  has  thus  done  not  a  little 
in  changing  the  outlook  of  these  schools,  and  in 
leading  them  to  add  emphasis  to  missionary  studies. 

The  Quadrennial  Conference,  held  by  this  Move- 
ment, is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  gath- 
erings of  Christian  youth  in  the  world.  From  three 
to  four  thousand  Volunteer  young  men  and  women, 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    297 

with  a  thousand  interested  Christian  leaders,  are  thus 
gathered  together  to  consider  the  great  missionary 
challenge  and  to  stimulate  each  other  to  the  mission- 
ary life  of  consecration.  Marvellous  are  these  meet- 
ings in  their  spiritual  power,  under  the  leadership  of 
such  notable  men  as  Drs.  John  R.  Mott  and  Robert  E. 
Speer. 

I  know  of  no  two  Movements  which  are  so  preg- 
nant in  spiritual  meaning  and  power,  and  in  world- 
wide influence  for  the  missionary  cause,  as  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  and  the  Laymen's 
Movement ;  one  the  outcome  of  the  other  and  organ- 
ized with  the  definite  purpose  of  making  the  other 
efficient.  Thus  the  pious  enthusiasm  of  the  Church 
is  being  linked  to  the  financial  and  business  power 
of  the  Church  to  carry  the  message  of  the  Cross  to 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 

Other  Young  People's  Movements  are  worthy  of 
our  thought ;  for  their  activity  and  enthusiasm  are 
directed  to  the  same  advancement  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  in  non-Christian  lands. 

Consider  first  the  Young  People's  Missionary 
Movement.  This  is  closely  connected  with  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  and  is  partly  auxiUary 
to  its  activities. 

The  best  method  of  imparting  missionary  intel- 
ligence is  by  the  intensive  method  of  Mission  Study 
Classes.  These  classes  have  wonderfully  multiplied 
ail  over  our  country,  not  only  in  colleges,  but  in 
churches  and  in  Young  People's  Societies.  But  the 
principal  business  of  the  Young  People's  Missionary 


298        I'he  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Movement  has  been  to  furnish  the  missionary  so- 
cieties and  other  organizations  with  text-books 
suitable  for  such  study,  and  with  other  missionary 
literature  which  may  be  auxiliary  to  these,  so  as  to 
advance  the  missionary  intelligence  of  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  Church.  This  organization, 
established  in  1902,  has  published  over  500,000 
volumes  upon  missions  and  in  the  interest  of  mission 
study.  It  has  also  published  and  sold  over  35,000 
sets  of  mission  reference  libraries,  which  are  being 
used  all  over  the  land,  and  also  much  accessory  lit- 
erature which  adds  to  the  missionary  fuel  and  makes 
known  the  missionary  appeal.  It  is  now  extending 
its  helpful  activities  to  mission  lands  also. 

Besides  this  Movement  we  have  also  The  United 
Study  of  fissions  Committee,  which  is  a  body  of 
ladies  appointed  by  the  Women's  Foreign  Boards 
of  North  America.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  com- 
mittee to  furnish,  for  the  women  of  our  churches, 
suitable  text-books  on  this  subject,  that  they  may 
form  classes  for  the  study  of  the  same.  Since  the 
organization  of  the  committee  in  1901,  they  have 
published,  annually,  a  text- book,  and  these  have  had 
a  large  circulation.  Nearly  half  a  million  of  these 
books  were  sold  between  1901  and  1909.  These 
text-books  for  women  are  used  in  connection  with 
the.  monthly  meetings  of  the  Women's  Mission- 
ary Societies  and  as  text-books  for  small  circles 
which  meet  for  thorough  study. 

Thus,  through  these  various  organizations,  a  vast 
amount  of  wholesome,  attractive,  wide-awake  and 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    299 

inspiring  missionary  literature  has  been  created. 
More,  perhaps,  has  been  produced  and  distributed 
during  the  last  decade  than  through  any  century 
previous  to  this. 

The  value  of  this  work  is  great  beyond  expression. 
In  the  past  the  greatest  need  of  our  cause  at  home 
has  been  increased  intelligence.  Our  constituency 
must  be  educated  not  only  to  the  need  of  the  non- 
Christian  world,  but  also  to  the  remarkable  progress 
already  made  on  the  field  and  the  magnificent  equip- 
ment which  is  already  in  hand  for  the  world-wide 
achievement  of  the  future.  So  long  as  we  can  induce 
the  young  people  of  our  institutions,  and  the  mem- 
bers of  our  churches,  to  read  missionary  literature  and 
to  dwell  upon  the  great  facts  and  personages  of  mis- 
sionary life  and  history,  so  long  will  our  cause 
develop  in  strength  and  will  grip  the  Church  and  all 
its  young  people  with  an  irresistible  power. 

In  like  manner,  we  must  not  fail  to  recognize  the 
growing  power  of  other  Young  People's  organiza- 
tions within  the  Churches  themselves  and  what  they 
are  doing  for  the  missionary  cause. 

In  the  first  place  comes  the  Christian  Endeavour 
Society,  with  its  unprecedented  army  of  4,000,000 
members  from  the  young  people  of  Protestant 
Christendom.  It  is  an  organization  which  has 
wrought  wonders  in  the  development  of  the  spiritual 
life  of  the  youth  of  the  churches.  It  has  spread  all 
over  the  world  and  is  particularly  active  in  many  of 
the  largest  mission  fields  in  the  Far  East.  Its  last 
World  Convention  was  held  in  1909  at  Agra,  India, 


300        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

and  was  a  remarkable  inspiration  and  help  to  the 
thousands  of  native  Christians  and  missionaries 
who  were  gathered  together  on  that  occasion. 

This  society  is  now  thoroughly  indoctrinating  its 
members  in  missionary  principles  and  is  inspiring 
them  in  missionary  activity.  Systematically  they 
are  being  trained,  through  missionary  literature,  to 
develop  an  interest  in  the  work  now  carried  on  in 
non-Christian  lands ;  and  burdens  of  responsibility 
have  been  thrown  upon  their  shoulders ;  so  that 
thousands  of  dollars  are  sent  annually  by  these 
youthful  Endeavourers  to  support  the  work  of  the 
missionary  societies  of  their  own  denominations. 

The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  other  Young 
People's  Societies,  such  as  the  Epworth  League,  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Union,  the  Wesley  Guild.  All 
these  organizations  have  now  their  faces  turned 
towards  non-Christian  lands  and  are  praying  and 
contributing  for  the  speedy  coming  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God. 

Add  again  to  these  institutions  the  Sunday-schools 
of  all  Christian  lands.  These  also  are  now  systemat- 
ically disseminating  missionary  intelligence  among 
the  millions  of  their  scholars  through  the  missionary 
lessons  which  are  regularly  taught  in  the  Interna- 
tional and  other  series. 

Nor  should  one  by  any  means  overlook,  in  this 
inventory  of  home  forces,  the  modern  Schools  of 
Theological  training.  A  generation  ago  their 
sympathy  with  the  missionary  cause  in  foreign  lands 
was   very   meagre.     They  neither  encouraged  stu- 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    301 

dents  to  enlist  in  the  foreign  work,  nor  did  they 
furnish  any  specific  training  for  it.  To-day  these 
institutions  are  alert  to  the  new  situation  and  are 
vying  with  each  other  in  furnishing  courses  of  study 
on  missions  and  in  other  activities  which  tend  to 
urge  the  missionary  appeal  and  to  dignify  and 
glorify  the  Missionary  Service.  Students,  now, 
sometimes  find  the  first  warmth  of  their  missionary 
zeal  and  consecration  in  the  Theological  Seminary. 
And  I  anticipate  the  no  distant  day  when  the 
Divinity  School  will  become  one  of  the  great  home 
resources  and  dynamic  influences  of  the  missionary 
cause. 

Consider  also  those  splendidly  equipped  organiza- 
tions which  are  outside  of  the  Church  itself,  but 
which,  nevertheless,  are  its  most  efficient  auxiliaries. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  have  made 
amazing  progress  during  the  last  twenty  years. 
This  progress  is  not  simply  in  their  multiplied 
strength  and  activity  in  the  home  lands,  but  also, 
and  specially,  in  their  consecrated  activity  and 
outgoing  blessing  to  the  people  of  non-Christian 
lands.  In  all  the  great  mission  fields  of  the  world 
we  find  the  secretaries  and  agents  of  these  spendid 
organizations  pushing  forward,  with  marvellous 
energy,  their  work  for  Christian  young  men  and 
women.  And  beyond  this  they  have  taken  up 
evangelistic  work  for  non-Christians  and  are  for- 
warding it  with  their  wonted  energy  and  vigour. 

I  know  of  no  missionary  agency  in  India,  and  in 


302        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

other  lands  of  the  East,  which  is  so  alert,  so  buoyant 
and  hopeful,  so  attractive  to  the  young  people,  so 
captivating  in  all  its  methods  of  approach  and  so 
given  to  the  exaltation  of  God's  Word  as  these  two 
Associations.  In  a  thousand  ways  they  are  appeal- 
ing to  the  mind  of  the  young  men  and  women  of 
non-Christian  lands  and  are  not  only  building  up  the 
Christian  youth  in  knowledge  and  zeal,  but  are  also 
approaching  the  non-Christian  youth  with  an  irre- 
sistible charm  and  attraction. 

Added  to  these  is  the  World's  Student  Christian 
Federation — a  federation  of  many  thousands  of 
young  men  in  the  higher  institutions  of  learning  in 
all  parts  of  the  world  with  a  view  to  pressing  upon 
them  the  double  appeal  of  Christian  life  and  of  Chris- 
tian servicie. 

In  1907,  the  Conference  of  this  Federation  met  in 
Tokio,  Japan,  where  it  moved  mightily  the  young 
men  of  that  stirring  empire  and  carried  Christian  life 
and  enthusiasm  to  many  who  formerly  possessed 
them  not.  Through  this  Federation  the  host  of  stu- 
dents of  the  universities  of  the  world  are  brought  into 
touch  and  sympathy  with  each  other ;  and,  what  is 
more  important  still,  the  Federation  presents  to  them 
the  great  Christian  opportunity  of  the  day,  to  bring 
Christ  and  Him  Crucified  to  the  unnumbered  mil- 
lions who  know  Him  not  and  who  are  grovelling  in 
the  darkness  of  heathenism. 

Let  the  reader  try  to  imagine  himself  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  of  God  fifty  years  ago,  when 
hardly  one  of  these  organizations  and  movements, 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    303 

which  I  have  just  mentioned,  had  come  into  existence. 
These  many  splendid  auxiliaries  of  the  Church  of 
God  were  not  possible  in  those  days.  The  world 
outlook  had  not  yet  come  to  the  Church.  The  in- 
spiration of  modern  times  and  the  manifold  forms 
and  agencies  of  Christian  activity  and  enthusiasm 
were  unknown.  How  low  the  life  of  the  Church 
must  have  been  at  that  time  ;  how  wanting  in  altru- 
istic ambition  ;  how  blind  to  the  marvellous  possibil- 
ities of  expansion,  and  to  the  duty  of  transmitting 
its  life  to  the  uttermost  races  of  the  earth.  How 
strange  would  it  seem  to  a  saint  of  the  early 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  awake  from  his 
slumber  and  to  look  upon  the  dawn  of  this  new  day 
of  a  myriad  wonderfully  organized  forms  of  activity 
as  they  are  striving,  every  one,  to  contribute  its 
share  to  the  mighty  impetus  which  is  ushering  the 
Kingdom  of  God  into  the  darkest  regions  of  our 
earth. 

Note  also  the  striking  fact  that  nearly  all  these 
new  movements  are  i7iterdejio7m7iatio7ial,  while  some 
of  them  are  international  in  their  character  and  scope. 
The  missionary  propaganda  broadens  the  vision, 
widens  the  sympathy  and  puts  to  shame  all  sectarian 
narrowness.  It  contains  a  virus  which  tends  to  des- 
troy the  denominational  germ.  Sectarian  bigotry 
hides  its  head  in  shame  in  the  presence  of  this  great 
world  movement.  It  possesses  an  astounding  cen- 
tripetal force  which  tends  to  bring  together  all  the 
scattered  energies  of  the  Church  into  one  grand  ef- 
fort, purpose  and  affection.     It  makes  not  only  for 


304        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

interdenominationalism,  but  also  for  union  of  all  the 
forces  of  Christendom  in  the  stupenduous  task  given 
by  God  to  His  Church. 

This  is  neither  strange  nor  unexpected.  The 
Church  which,  under  the  growing  inspiration  and 
consciousness  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  reaches 
out  in  helpfulness  to  non-Christians,  inevitably  en- 
ters thereby  upon  a  greater  realization  and  exercise 
of  the  deeper  sentiment  of  Christian  love  and  union 
with  all  its  fellow  Christians. 

II 

Consider  also  the  missionary  organizations  in  the 
home  land. 

Two  centuries  ago  (1706)  the  first  Protestant  mis- 
sionary organization  of  Europe  sent  forth  its  mes- 
sengers to  India.  They  were,  however,  supported 
by  the  good  King  of  Denmark.  In  1793,  Great 
Britain  heard  the  first  genuine  foreign  missionary 
battle-cry  in  the  voice  of  that  *'  consecrated  cobbler," 
William  Carey. 

It  was  a  century  ago  (18 10)  that  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  was 
established  in  Massachusetts.  It  was  organized  un- 
der the  inspiration  which  emanated  from  those  pious 
young  men  of  Haystack  fame  in  Williams  College, 
among  the  Berkshire  Hills  of  Massachusetts.  The 
prayer-meeting  of  those  young  men  was  epochal  in 
its  significance  to  the  Church,  as  it  was  and  will  be 
an  inspiration  and  a  benediction  to  ambitious  young 
men  of  all  subsequent  ages.     The  American  Board 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    305 

was  the  first  missionary  organization  formed  on  this 
continent ;  and  it  has  only  just  now  (1910)  celebrated 
its  centenary  in  Boston.  What  marvellous  changes 
have  taken  place  since  the  day  of -its  organization? 
Out  of  this  small  beginning  what  astounding  re- 
sults has  the  century  brought  forth  ?  At  the  present 
time  there  are,  on  the  American  continent,  107  **  ap- 
pointing and  sending  societies."  When  we  add  to 
these  the  auxiliary  and  cooperating  societies  it  swells 
the  total  to  233  well-organized  and  vigorous  mis- 
sionary societies  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Their 
offering,  for  work  in  non-Christian  lands  only, 
amounted  last  year  to  $9,768,273. 

There  are  altogether  338  Protestant  missionary 
societies  with  450  auxiliary  and  cooperating  socie- 
ties. Through  these  many  organizations  $24,676,- 
580  was  collected  and  expended  last  year  in  their 
work  for  non-Christians,  conducted  in  32,009  centres 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  difficult  for  one  to  re- 
alize the  extraordinary  growth  of  this  movement  dur- 
ing this  one  century  in  this  and  other  lands,  and  to 
appreciate  what  a  mighty  transformation  has  taken 
place  within  the  Church  itself,  so  far  as  its  ideals, 
ambitions  and  purposes  are  concerned. 

These  missionary  societies  are  effectively  organ- 
ized to  carry  on  the  foreign  work  of  the  Church.  They 
are  not  all  alike  in  character.  Some  of  them  are 
independent  and  self-perpetuating  organizations, 
though  connected  in  a  way  with  the  Churches  whose 
work  they  are  organized  to  conduct.  The  American 
Board  of  Commissioners,  in  America,  and  the  two 


306        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

missionary  societies  of  the  AngHcan  community  in 
Great  Britain  are  of  this  character.  They  are  formed 
to  do  the  foreign  work  of  their  own  denomination. 

In  other  cases  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  themselves 
control  and  direct  the  missionary  activities  of  their 
own  community.  The  American  Methodists  and 
the  English  Wesleyans  represent  this  type  of  organ- 
ization. 

There  are  advantages  to  both  forms  of  organiza- 
tion. At  this  present  time  one  would  suppose  that 
the  normal  and  more  successful  method  would  be 
the  latter,  whereby  a  Church  directly  and  immedi- 
ately administers  this,  one  of  its  necessary  and 
normal  activities. 

In  the  IJnited  States  of  America,  missionary  socie- 
ties generally  have  been  organized  on  denomina- 
tional lines.  Their  scope  and  sphere  is  largely  con- 
fined to  the  communion  of  which  they  are  a  part. 
The  American  Board  was  originally  founded  as  an 
interdenominational  body.  So  was  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society  in  Great  Britain,  at  an  earlier  date  ; 
and  it  still  retains,  in  part,  that  interdenominational 
character.  The  China-Inland  Mission  is  not  only 
interdenominational,  but  also  international  in  its 
character  and  reveals  remarkable  vitality  as  it  has 
achieved  great  success. 

In  Germany,  missionary  societies  are  territorial 
rather  than  denominational.  Each  society  is  di- 
rected and  supported  by  Protestant  Christians  of  a 
certain  definite  area,  regardless  of  their  sectarian  af- 
filiations.    This  is  a  striking  difference  in  the  basis 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    307 

of  these  organizations  on  the  two  continents ;  and  it 
were  well  if,  in  the  future,  this  matter  were  consid- 
ered fully  with  a  view  to  understanding  the  peculiar 
advantages  of  each  system. 

These  missionary  societies  administer  the  benevo- 
lences of  their  Churches  in  a  wise  and  economical 
way.  In  America,  the  percentage  of  the  income  of 
the  larger  societies  which  is  expended  in  the  admin- 
istration of  their  home  affairs  is  about  ten  per  cent. 
As  compared  with  commercial  organizations  this  is 
a  very  low  expenditure  of  the  society's  funds  in  the 
conduct  of  its  business.  This  is  preeminently  true 
when  it  is  remembered  how  far  the  distances  are  be- 
tween the  societies  and  the  centres  of  their  activity  ; 
and  how  scattered  their  patrons  and  supporters  are 
over  a  great  territory. 

The  societies  are  directed  by  experts  who  know 
well  their  business  and  by  men  who  are  distin- 
guished for  their  piety  and  for  their  ability  among 
the  leaders  of  the  Churches. 

The  secretaries  of  these  societies  have  recently 
organized  a  conference  of  their  own  in  which  they 
meet  annually  to  discuss  interests  which  are  com- 
mon to  the  societies  and  matters  which  pertain  to 
their  common  prosperity.  In  the  city  of  New  York, 
annually,  a  large  force  of  these  secretaries  and 
others,  engaged  in  the  direction  of  these  missionary 
societies,  discuss  many  matters  that  are  of  funda- 
mental importance  to  a  wise  administration  of  the 
affairs  of  their  organizations.  They  compare  notes, 
take  counsel,  one  with  the  other,  and  seek  ways  of 


308        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

mutual  helpfulness  and  of  hearty  fellowship  in  the 
conduct  of  their  work  in  the  far-ofi  lands,  as  also  in 
the  best  methods  of  approaching  the  churches  and 
of  stirring  them  up  to  greater  self-denial  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  work. 

These  missionary  societies  differ  from  those  that 
are  more  personal  and  ephemeral  in  their  character. 
They  have  a  permanence,  a  policy  and  a  thorough 
organization  which  preclude  the  dominance  of  the 
will  of  any  one  person  in  their  affairs.  And  they 
give  time  for  quiet  growth  and  a  normal  develop- 
ment, which  means  success  and  prosperity. 

These  societies  are  studying  carefully  the  whole 
field  of  missions  and  dividing  it  wisely  among  them- 
selves with  a  view  to  largest  efficiency  and  thorough 
occupancy  of  all  non-Christian  lands  which  are  open 
and  accessible  to  Christian  workers. 

Ill 

There  are,  in  the  organizations  in  the  home  lands, 
some  defects,  also,  which  need  to  be  removed  and 
which  will  doubtless  be  removed  as  the  work  de- 
velops. 

(a)  In  the  controlling  committees  of  these  organ- 
izations there  seems  to  be,  at  the  present  time,  an 
apparent  lack  of  strong  faith  to  launch  out  into  the 
deep,  and,  in  harmony  with  the  best  missionary 
motto,  to  **  expect  great  things  from  God,  and  at- 
tempt great  things  for  God."  One  cannot  help  feel- 
ing that,  during  the  last  few  years,  missionary  com- 
mittees at  the  head  of  these  societies  have,  to  some 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    309 

extent,  lost  the  far-off  vision  of  the  noble  men  of  the 
past  and  are  willing  to  wait  and  listen  to  the  beck 
and  call  of  the  Church  rather  than  to  be  bold  in  the 
Lord  to  follow  His  command  to  move  courageously 
in  His  footsteps  and  to  inspire  the  Church  to  move 
on  to  ever- increasing  endeavour  and  to  ever-multi- 
plying activity  for  the  conquest  of  the  non-Christian 
world. 

These  committees  have  been  too  easily  intimi- 
dated by  the  business  men  of  the  Church  who  are 
not  as  deeply  interested,  as  perhaps  they  might  be, 
in  the  enterprise  itself,  and  who  are  determined  that 
it  shall  be  run  (in  their  pet  phrase),  "  according  to 
business  principles."  By  this  expression  is  meant 
that  no  debt  must  be  contracted  by  the  missionary 
societies  under  any  circumstances — that  the  Boards 
must  simply  follow  the  Churches,  however  laggard 
they  may  be,  and  use  scrupulously  only  what  is 
given  to  them  by  the  Churches  in  advance. 

One  may  question  whether  this  is  a  policy  which, 
in  any  sense,  accords  with  true  **  business  principles." 
These  men  should  not  forget  that  the  whole  mission- 
ary work  is  more  a  matter  of  faith  than  it  is  of  busi- 
ness ;  and  when  they  place  these  two  methods 
antithetically,  and  exclusively  emphasize  business 
methods,  it  is  desirable  that  the  society  itself  should 
enlighten  them  and  save  the  cause  from  such 
"friends." 

Commission  VI  of  the  World  Missionary  Con- 
ference says : 

"It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  when  societies 


310         The  Modern   Missionary  Challenge 

promise  a  large  sum  for  the  support  of  their  mission- 
aries and  their  work,  they  do  so  in  faith,  for  none  of 
the  funds  thus  pledged  are  in  hand  at  the  time,  but 
the  officers  of  the  society  have  faith  that  the  sup- 
porting constituency  will  supply  the  money  as  it  is 
needed  ;  and  in  most  cases  this  is  done.  In  this  case 
the  officers  and  executive  committee  of  the  mission- 
ary society  exercise  faith  in  that  they  pledge  to  the 
missionaries,  in  their  difficult  and  even  perilous  po- 
sitions, the  payment  of  an  assured  amount  for  their 
support  and  for  the  work.  In  the  case  of  *  faith 
missions,'  so  called,  the  officers  and  executive  com- 
mittees seem  to  throw  the  burden  of  faith  upon  the 
missionaries  themselves.  In  the  former  case,  if  the 
faith  exercised  has  seemed  to  be  larger  than  results 
warrant,  the  officers  find  themselves  burdened  with  a 
deficit  for  which  they  become  responsible ;  while  in 
the  latter  case,  if  the  receipts  are  not  equal  to  expec- 
tations, it  is  not  the  officers  who  suffer  but  the  mis- 
sionaries. In  both  cases  the  entire  work  is  one  of 
faith." 

A  deficit  is  not  always  an  unbusinesslike  thing  ; 
every  business  firm  has  outstanding  debts  as  it  has 
also  credits.  It  is  only  when  its  debts  exceed  its 
assets  that,  from  a  business  standpoint,  the  situation 
becomes  dangerous.  Even  financially,  the  societies 
can  exceed  their  income  for  a  year  or  more,  as  they 
have  already  large  pecuniary  assets  on  the  field  of 
activity  as  well  as  at  home,  not  to  speak  of  the 
mighty  dependence  which  they  possess  on  the 
Church  Itself — a  Church  which  is  now  apathetic  and 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    3 1 1 

indifferent,  but  capable  of  being  roused  by  the  trumpet 
call  of  enthusiasm  and  of  faith,  of  need  and  of  op- 
portunity. The  societies  must  never  fail  to  appre- 
ciate adequately  this  immense  resource  which  they 
can  always  fall  back  upon ;  and,  if  it  be  done  with 
care,  they  can  always  depend  upon  it.  A  new  con- 
fidence in  the  responsiveness  of  the  Church  to  a  defi- 
nite and  a  vigorous  call- — and  it  must  be  vigorous 
if  it  is  to  be  effective — is  what  our  missionary  so- 
cieties eminently  need  to-day.  This  reiterated  cry 
of  "  business,"  and  this  stern  call  back  to  **  business 
methods  "  has  already  palsied  the  arm  of  the  Church, 
and  is  more  responsible  than  many  think  for  the  fre- 
quent debts  of  the  societies — debts  incurred  even  in 
the'  prosecution  of  their  ordinary  work.  Rather 
should  the  question  be  raised  whether  it  is  in  any 
sense  "  business  "  for  a  Church  to  conduct  a  magnifi- 
cent work  like  this  by  the  meagre  offerings  of  only 
one-tenth  of  its  members ;  or  to  try  to  conduct  and 
sustain  a  world  enterprise  with  the  paltry  offering  of 
seventy-five  cents  per  member  a  year  I 

I  would  not  be  understood  here  as  encouraging 
large  and  overwhelming  debts  in  our  missionary  so- 
cieties. God  forbid  that  any  society  should  be  reck- 
less in  its  expenditure  or  should  chronically  and 
purposely  cultivate  a  large  deficit.  But  let  it  be  re- 
membered that  "  a  deficit  is  not  a  crime,  that  it  does 
not  necessarily  indicate  poor  business  management, 
and  that  in  fact  it  may  show  the  far-seeing  and  sober 
wisdom  and  Christian  devotion  and  wise  statesman- 
ship of  those  who  bore  the  responsibility  at  the  time. 


312        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

A  debt  is  no  more  a  disgrace  to  a  mission  board 
than  to  a  business  house,  to  a  hospital  or  to  a  nation. 
.  .  .  Missionary  society  deficits  are  probably 
not  as  demoralizing  or  as  disastrous  to  the  enthu- 
siasm or  spirit  of  advance  in  the  Church  as  would  be  a 
repeated  credit  of  considerable  proportions.  It  would 
be  fatal  to  have  the  Church  believe  that  the  work 
abroad  is  abundantly  sustained,  and  so  not  in  need 
of  a  more  liberal  and  increasing  support.  .  .  . 
The  missionary  societies  are  the  standard-bearers  of 
the  Churches  as  they  advance  with  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  for  the  conquest  of  the  world.  It  is  impera- 
tive, therefore,  that  the  standard  be  kept  to  the  front 
of  the  marching  forces,  while  it  is  equally  necessary 
that  it  be  not  so  far  in  front  that  the  Churches  be- 
come disheartened  or  even  lose  sight  of  it  altogether. 
.  .  .  They  must  maintain  a  position  of  recognized 
leadership  commanding  the  confidence  of  their  con- 
stituency. They  cannot  afford  to  be  unprogressive 
or  to  give  the  Church  the  impression  that  it  is  doing 
all  it  is  able  to  do  .  .  .  and  that  there  is  no  need 
of  increased  effort  and  sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  multi- 
tudes abroad  yet  unreached."  ^ 

I  believe  that  occasional  deficits  have  been  a 
healthy  stimulus  to  the  Churches ;  yea  more,  that  a 
bold  unwillingness,  on  the  part  of  the  societies,  to 
allow  the  Churches  to  persistently  ignore  the  call  of 
God  to  advance,  and  to  rest  in  their  apathy  and  in 

1  Commission  VI  (pp.  86  to  92)  of  the  World  Missionary  Conference. 
The  whole  discussion  of  this  report  is  eminently  wise  and  should  be  read 
by  all  interested  in  the  subject. 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    313 

their  old  ruts  has  been  an  essential  and  important 
part  of  their  duty.  If  a  society,  which  has  studied 
the  whole  situation  on  the  field  and  knows  the  exi- 
gency of  the  work  and  the  urgency  of  the  call  and 
need,  is  prohibited  from  moving  forward  and  thereby 
committing  and  inspiring  the  Church  to  greater  ef- 
fort and  larger  success,  then  who  else  is  to  make  the 
needed  advance,  and  where  shall  the  Churches  find 
their  leaders  and  their  monitors  in  the  Lord  ?  An 
overemphasized  prudence  has  often  become,  and  is 
liable  to  become,  cowardly  regression  and  retrench- 
ment on  the  mission  field. 

Missionaries  have  long  grown  sad  and  impatient 
under  this  tendency  of  the  day  to  rob  the  societies 
of  the  power  of  initiative  and  leadership  and  to  sub- 
stitute for  the  "  policy  of  faith "  a  cold-blooded, 
spiritless  and  unprogressive  "business  proposi- 
tion." 

Again,  the  ancient  call  of  God  comes  to  such  lead- 
ers,— "  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel  that  they 
go  forward." 

{b)  Another  defect  which  I  would  notice  is  that 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  societies  do  not  adequately 
reach  and  canvass  the  home  field.  They  have  so 
often  been  thoughtlessly  and  Jgnorantly  attacked  for 
extravagance  and  an  excess  of  expenditure  at  the 
home  base  that  they  may  not,  and  probably  do  not, 
expend  money  enough  in  home  administration. 
They  do  not  flood  the  churches  with  intelligence ; 
they  do  not  adequately  make  known  the  success  and 
the  need  of  the  foreign  work  to  all  the  churches  of 


314        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

their  constituency.  The  saving  of  money  at  this 
point  is  not  only  false  economy  ;  it  is  also  a  failure 
to  touch  and  to  bring  to  life  and  to  sympathy  with 
the  cause  a  large  section  of  the  Church  which  consti- 
tutes our  hope.  The  fact  that  one-third  of  the  churches 
are  absolutely  non-contributing,  and  that  only  one- 
tenth  of  the  church-membership  make  any  response 
whatever  to  the  missionary  call,  is  an  appalling  fact. 
It  must  be  because  they  are  not  reached  with  the 
necessary  information  and  appeal  to  bring  them  into 
the  current  of  available  missionary  power.  **  Knowl- 
edge is  power."  We  need  more,  and  more  attract- 
ive, literature.  Informing  magazines,  tracts,  and 
books  must  be  multiplied  and  must  in  some  way  or 
other  be  made  to  reach  the  spot  of  greatest  need  and 
ignorance.  '  Nine-tenths  of  our  literature,  to-day, 
gets  to  the  one-tenth  of  the  constituency — the  part 
which  does  not  specially  need  it ;  and  the  other  nine- 
tenths  are  not  brought  face  to  face  with  the  facts. 
The  neglected  areas  must  be  reached.  Publicity 
agencies  must  be  multiplied.  Probably  more  secre- 
taries and  agents  must  be  appointed.  Missionaries 
on  furloughs  should  be  more  thoroughly  utilized. 
Home  pastors  who  are  absolutely  indifferent  should 
be  set  on  fire  and  be  made  agencies  for  this  cause. 
Churches  that  are  already  contributing  and  are 
awake  should  be  organized  in  a  way  to  reach  the 
churches  which  do  not ;  and  these  are  usually  the 
small  village  churches.  In  all  ways  and  by  all 
means  the  ignorant  and  indifferent  churches  and 
members  should  be  compelled  to  know  the  situation 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge     315 

and  to  face  their  duty  and  to  enjoy  their  opportunity 
in  the  fellowship  of  this  work. 

Another  splendid  field  of  opportunity  for  the  pub- 
licity committee  is  now  hardly  touched  at  all,  and 
that  is  the  Public  Schools  of  the  country.  From 
some  experience  of  my  own,  during  recent  deputa- 
tion work  in  America,  I  am  confident  that  there  is  a 
no  more  attractive  opportunity  to  present  our  cause 
in  the  country,  at  the  present  time,  than  that  of  the 
public  schools  of  the  country.  But  this  field  has 
hardly  been  touched  at  all.  Wisdom  is  needed,  of 
course,  in  the  presentation  of  missions  to  these 
schools  lest  there  be  ofTense  and  the  door  be  closed  ; 
but  I  have  rarely  experienced  finer  opportunity  than 
on  this  very  line.  The  youthful  audiences  are  so 
quick  to  respond,  so  appreciative  and  so  impression- 
able, that  words  spoken  to  them  are  precious  seeds 
which  will  at  some  time  or  other  bear  fruit,  either  in 
missionar}^  life  service  or,  surely,  in  missionary  sym- 
pathy in  later  life. 

Mr.  H.  W.  Hicks  has  recently  compiled  intensely 
interesting  figures  in  connection  with  his  study  of 
missionary  impressions  made  upon  young  people 
during  the  period  of  adolescence  ;  through  which  it 
is  clearly  shown  that,  not  only  in  public  schools,  but 
in  the  various  activities  of  the  Church  itself  the  chil- 
dren and  the  young  people  of  its  community  have 
not  been  adequately  impressed  and  influenced  to 
these  higher  thoughts  and  aspirations  for  the  coming 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Probably  the  greatest  part 
of  this  blame  is  to  be  laid  upon  the  Church  itself  and 


31 6        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

the  Sunday-school.  It  may  also  be  the  want  of  cer- 
tain wisely  directed  activity  on  the  part  of  mission- 
ary societies  themselves. 

(c)  Missionary  societies  and  their  auxiliaries  need 
to  be  properly  related  to  each  other.  There  is  too 
much  friction  and  contention,  with  a  corresponding 
loss  of  power.  Some  auxiliaries  are  restless  and  de- 
sire to  pass  out  of  that  relationship  to  the  mother 
societies  and  to  assume  some  of  the  functions  of  sep- 
arate, independent  organizations.  This  leads  to  un- 
happy relations  between  Woman's  Boards  and  gen- 
eral societies. 

Thus  also  the  missionary  interest  of  the  churches 
is  divided  ;  rival  agencies  claim  attention.  Women's 
work  and  men's  work  are  placed  in  juxtaposition  and 
unhealthy  Competition  ensues.  Even  the  different 
women's  societies  tend  to  multiply ;  separate  agen- 
cies, committees,  magazines  and  other  rival  publica- 
tions add  not  only  to  the  feeling,  but  also  to  the  ex- 
pense of  administration.  These  various  organiza- 
tions at  home  should  be  better  coordinated.  One  is 
tempted  to  repeat  the  frequent  interrogation,  **  Why 
have  women's  auxiliaries  and  not  also  have  men's 
auxiliaries  ?  "  The  question  has  been  asked  whether 
the  apathy  of  the  men  in  our  churches  in  missionary 
work  has  not  been  coincident  and  synchronous  with 
the  rise  of  these  women's  organizations  and  separate 
activities. 

Since  Women's  Boards  exist  and  seem  to  be  a 
necessity,  why  not  have  men  on  their  committees  to 
keep  them  in  touch  with  the  main  societies ;  and 


Response  of  the  Church  to  the  Challenge    317 

why  not  also  have  all  the  funds  of  the  auxiliaries 
fully  administered,  as  they  now  are  not,  by  the  main 
societies,  of  whose  finance  committees  leaders  of 
the  women's  auxiliaries  should  also  be  members? 
This  is  the  method  of  the  mission  of  which  I  am  a 
member.  There  is  no  division  between  the  men 
and  women  ;  nor  should  there  be,  it  seems  to  many, 
in  the  home  administration  of  the  Church's  activity. 
At  present  the  benevolences  of  these  different  home 
organizations  are  dispensed  unevenly  on  the  mission 
field.  All  the  money  raised  by  the  women  of 
America  ( at  least  in  some  denominations )  is 
assigned  to,  and  sent  for,  the  lady  agents  of  the 
Women's  Boards  regardless  of  the  special  need  of 
that  work  as  related  to  the  whole  work  of  the 
mission.  This  would  be  avoided  if  all  the  benevo- 
lences of  the  Church  were  administered  by  one 
finance  committee,  composed  of  men  and  women, 
for  the  maintenance  of  all  departments  of  the 
work. 

It  must  be  unfortunate  and  deplorable  if  the 
foreign  work  of  our  Churches  is  to  be  permanently 
conducted — both  in  the  collecting  agencies  at  home 
and  in  the  conduct  of  the  work  abroad — on  sex 
lines. 

On  the  whole,  I  consider  that  the  response  of  the 
Church  to  the  missionary  challenge  is  decidedly  en- 
couraging, if  not  inspiring.  Instead  of  the  once 
fitful  spring  of  the  past  there  is  now  a  perennial 
stream  with  a  thousand  little  rivulets  flowing  into  it 
from  as  many  new  movements  which  are  swelling 


318         The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

missionary  interest  and  resources  into  an  ever-grow- 
ing river  of  God. 

In  the  Church,  a  new  seriousness  and  sense  of 
responsibility  is  developing  on  all  sides. 

In  the  pastorate,  a  growing  purpose  to  properly 
coordinate  the  missionary  work  with  home  depart- 
ments of  activity  is  found  increasingly.  Pastors  are 
wonderfully  stirred,  in  many  places,  where  but 
recently  they  were  absolutely  indifferent.  They  are 
striving  to  enunciate  and  enforce  the  principle  that 
the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  is  a  fundamental 
and  important  part  of  the  work  of  the  Church  of 
God. 

In  the  missionary  societies  we  notice  a  new  ambi- 
tion and  an  increasing  wisdom  to  conduct  their 
work  on  up-to-date,  modern  lines  and  to  utilize 
every  opportunity  to  further  the  cause. 

In  the  fresh  activity  of  the  many  Young  People's 
organizations  a  new  hope  and  power  has  come  into 
the  Church.  Even  outside  the  Church  itself  there 
are  found,  at  the  present  time,  a  multitude  of  well- 
organized  Christian  activities  most  of  which  are 
thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  our  missionary  enter- 
prise and  urge  their  members  to  support  it. 

God  is  working  as  manifestly  and  as  powerfully 
in  the  home  Church  as  He  is  on  the  mission  field. 
In  all  parts  of  its  activities  the  Church  of  God  is 
moving  onward  in  its  interest  and  effort  for  the 
world  conquest  in  Jesus'  name. 


X 

The  Future  Outlook 

«  ^  ^  TATCHMAN  what  of  the  night?"  What 
\/\/  are  its  signs  of  promise ?  It  is  always  ; 
▼  ▼  dangerous  to  assume  the  prophetic  ^ 
function.  Still  there  may  be  some  advantage  in  it. 
The  government  thinks  it  worth  while,  both  for 
itself  and  for  the  people,  to  spend  millions  of  dollars 
annually  in  order  to  study  carefully  meteorological 
conditions  and  promises  that  it  may  foretell  the 
coming  weather.  This  has  become  invaluable,  in  its 
prognostications,  to  our  commerce  and  our  agri- 
culture. 

In  like  manner  it  may  be  profitable  to  study  care- 
fully present  conditions  in  the  missionary  work,  and 
to  watch  their  intimations,  suggestions  and  promise 
for  the  future,  that  we  may  gather  from  them  some 
thoughts  for  our  future  work  which  may  interest 
and  help  us  in  the  arduous  undertaking. 

In  the  study  of  previous  chapters  our  outlook  has 
been  sufficiently  comprehensive;  as  to  conditions 
and  problems,  aims  and  achievements,  opposing 
forces  and  present  resources  ;  so  that  we  may,  with 
a  litde  confidence,  reach  out  into  the  future  and 
indulge  ourselves  in  hope  and  assurance  built 
thereupon. 

319 


320        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

The  first  thing  that  suggests  itself  to  us  in  this 
connection  is  that  — 

I.  The  development  of  our  great  work  will  be 
fraught  with  many  surprises.  All  history  can  be 
explained  as  a  sequence  of  causes  and  effects,  and 
as  a  natural  process  of  growth,  or  evolution.  Yet 
man's  limited  vision  is  unequal  to  follow  this 
process  and  to  interpret  events  as  they  come.  Thus 
the  unexpected  very  often  happens  ;  the  common- 
place of  to-day  was  the  undreamed  of  yesterday. 
We  dare  not  anticipate  too  extensively  what  may 
happen  to-morrow.  Who  foresaw  or  could  have 
predicted,  a  generation  ago,  that  ships  on  the  ocean, 
at  the  present  time,  would  be  shooting  their  mes- 
sages one  to  the  other  for  hundreds  of  miles  through 
the  simple  medium  of  ether? 

Who  but  Darius  Green  could  have  imagined,  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago,  that  men  would  to-day  be 
flying  through  the  air  more  swiftly  than,  if  not  so 
safely  as,  birds  ? 

Think  of  the  many  sciences  which  were  not 
dreamed  of  fifty  years  ago,  but  which  are  largely 
controlling  the  channels  of  our  thought  and  express- 
ing in  new  terms  our  life  and  activities. 

The  same  thing  is  essentially  true  in  the  subder 
realm  of  spiritual  and  social  life. 

*!  Nowhere  are  we  more  liable  to  surprises  than 
here,  for  nowhere  are  we  more  likely  to  compute 
probabilities  from  only  a  part  of  the  facts.  We  are 
considering  a  work  in  which  we  have  to  reckon  with 
invisible  powers  as  well  as  visible,  divine  energies  as 


The  Future  Outlook  32 1 

well  as  human  events  and  movements.  Events  may 
seem  decisive,  and  yet  invisible  forces  may  proceed 
to  do  what  events  appear  to  have  forbidden."  ^ 

How  dramatic  was  the  opening  of  Japan  by  the 
compulsion  of  Western  guns  !  How  averse  that  peo- 
ple were  to  their  new  and  disagreeable  awakening ; 
yet  how  marvellous  a  Providence  it  was,  and  it  be- 
came the  great  turning  point  in  their  history  !  The 
Japan  of  the  past  century  and  the  Japan  of  to-day, — 
how  very  different !  They  were  a  people  who 
wanted  to  be  let  alone  to  work  out  their  own  destiny 
in  their  own  heathenish  isolation  and  unprogressive 
hermitage.  But  who  more  alert  in  the  world,  to- 
day, than  these  same  Japanese?  Who  more  anxious 
to  commend  themselves  to  the  world  and  to  take  a 
prominent  and  a  worthy  place  in  the  federation  of 
the  nations  of  the  earth  ?  The  forcing  of  an  open 
door  in  Japan  by  Commodore  Perry  for  political  and 
commercial  purposes  has  created  a  new  history  for 
that  people  and  has  given  them  an  entrance  into  the 
fellowship  of  the  world. 

See  the  startling  call  of  an  explorer  to  the  Church 
of  God  to  enter  Uganda  with  the  Gospel  to  a  willing 
people.  What  remarkable  changes  have  taken 
place  in  that  kingdom  within  the  last  few  years  in 
response  to  Stanley's  challenge  and  Mtesa's  invita- 
tion? 

Or,  witness  the  statescraft,  the  political  ambition 
and  international  scheming  of  Western  nations  as 
they    opened,    recently,    the    unwilling,    lumbering 

1 "  A  Study  of  Christian  Missions,"  pp.  238,  239. 


322         The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

doors  of  Buddhistic  Tibet.  And,  lo,  the  gospel 
light  is  likely  soon  to  flood  that  land  of  heathen 
darkness !  Who  shall  tell  us  what  is  to  be  the 
speedy  result  of  that  excessive  ambition  of  scheming 
Russia  to  get  a  grip  upon  that  land  ? 

Or,  look  at  the  crushing  weight  of  foreign  pressure 
and  the  invasion  of  Korea  by  foreign  enemies.  How 
remarkably  it  has  turned  the  thought  of  the  Korean 
people,  in  their  helplessness,  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
as  their  refuge  ! 

Even  a  famine  may  become  the  trumpet  voice  of 
God  calling  and  rousing  a  people  to  life.  Such  a 
famine  occurred  a  generation  ago  in  South  India. 
It  became  a  wonderful  turning  point  in  the  life  of 
the  outcaste  community  in  the  Telegu  field,  two 
hundred  thousand  of  whom  flocked  into  the  Baptist 
and  to  other  missions — missions  which  were  then 
weak,  discouraged  and  on  the  point  of  being  aban- 
doned, but  which  are  now  the  largest  and  among 
the  most  successful  in  the  land. 

In  these,  and  in  numberless  other  ways,  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  has  been  a  succession  of  surprises 
where  God  has  moved  in  a  mysterious  way  His 
wonders  to  perform  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
And  He  will  continue  to  do  the  same  in  the  future. 
In  the  coming  of  His  Kingdom  upon  earth  events 
will  happen  so  unexpectedly  and  with  such  sudden- 
ness to  the  eyes  of  man,  that  they  will  seem  "  mir- 
acles of  grace "  to  God's  people.  Every  year  and 
every  decade  will  bring  to  the  great  missionary  en- 
terprise an  increasing  number  of  such  surprises;  and 


The  Future  Outlook  323 

these  will  largely  be  such  as  to  encourage  and  in- 
spire God's  people  in  their  world-wide  labours. 

In  India  there  is  no  greater  barrier  to  the  progress 
of  Christianity  than  that  colossal  caste  system  which 
has  so  overshadowed  all  other  social  and  religious 
forces  of  that  land.  It  has  been  a  greater  obstacle 
to  Christianity  there  than  all  other  opposing  agen- 
cies combined.  To  all,  it  presents  serious  discour- 
agements ;  and  some  think  that  its  influence  is  as 
strong  as  ever  and  its  permanence  almost  assured. 

Yet  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  that  institution  is 
destined  soon  to  collapse  of  its  own  weight, and  under 
the  growing  impact  of  opposing  forces.  The  normal 
and  automatic  process  of  the  multiplication  of  castes 
whereby  they  have  become  numberless,  and  which 
will  soon  reduce  the  whole  system  to  a  veritable  re- 
ductio  ad  absurdum,  is  manifest  to  all  those  who 
have  studied  carefully  the  subject  and  will  conduce 
to  the  overthrow  of  the  whole  system.  The  caste 
demon  is  also  so  palpably  rendering  impossible  the 
political  aspirations  of  the  people,  as  it  does  also 
their  social,  industrial  and  commercial  enterprise, 
that  they  themselves  are  at  present  not  only  realiz- 
ing its  inutility,  but  are  also  sensible  of  the  fact  that 
the  whole  system  runs  athwart  their  progress  and  is 
in  absolute  conflict  with  their  best  interests.  I  have 
heard  Brahmans  earnestly  denouncing,  in  lectures, 
the  whole  system,  and  rightly  declaring  that  India 
can  never  achieve  its  independence  so  long  as  it  re- 
mains the  slave  of  the  caste  system. 

In  this  and  many  other  ways  I  believe  that  the 


324        '^^^  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

forces  of  India  will  soon  converge  to  a  point  of  defi- 
nite antagonism  to  the  system  and  will  overthrow  it 
with  a  suddenness  that  will  be  a  startling  surprise 
alike  to  its  foes  and  friends.  And  what  a  change 
India  would  present  to  the  missionary  if  caste  were 
abolished !  How  accessible  it  would  make  all  the 
people  I  How  easily  then  could  they  enter  into  the 
Christian  faith,  which  is  now  the  desire  of  helpless 
millions  of  them  !  How  it  would  disarm  opposition 
to  our  cause  and  rob  Hinduism  of  nine-tenths  of  its 
powers  to  persecute  those  who  are  tired  of  it  and 
who  are  anxious  to  leave  it,  but  dare  not  because  of 
caste  tyranny  and  intimidation  ! 

There  will  arise  also,  by  and  by,  great  men  for 
mighty  work  on  the  mission  fields  of  the  East.  It 
must  be  Confessed  that  Christianity  has  not  yet 
produced,  in  those  Eastern  lands  of  missionary  ac- 
tivity, or  in  Africa,  great  men  who  have  absorbed  our 
faith  and  have  breathed  into  it  the  breath  of  natural 
life,  wrought  it  into  an  indigenous  faith,  and  burned 
with  a  passion  to  communicate  it  to  all  their  country- 
men. But  the  day  will  come  when,  suddenly,  these 
great  lights  will  rise,  shed  their  brilliant  rays  upon 
their  people  and  lead  the  hosts  to  Christ. 

Men  like  the  great  Buddha  will  spring  up  and 
will  burn  with  indignation  at  the  mean  religious 
customs  of  their  day  and,  by  the  majesty  of  their 
personal  qualities  and  by  the  passion  and  pathos  of 
their  message,  will  thrill  and  win  the  people  to  our 
cause. 

Or,  perhaps,  another   Mohammed  will  rise,  but  a 


The  Future  Outlook  325 

Christian  one,  who  will  listen  to  the  voice  of  God 
and,  with  a  mighty  conviction  and  an  enthusiasm 
for  his  cause,  will  convert  many  a  defeat  into  success 
and  carry  his  simple  creed  like  a  flaming  torch  to 
enlighten  men  and  to  burn  into  their  hearts  and 
*ives  the  saving  truth  of  the  Gospel. 

Or,  perhaps,  in  the  decadent  Christian  Churches 
of  the  East,  there  will  arise  another  Luther  who  shall 
be  consumed  by  the  passion  of  a  new  Gospel  to 
carry  missionary  life  and  power  into  those  Churches 
Khat  are  now  so  dead. 

We  are  waiting,  and  we  have  waited  long,  for 
such  men  on  mission  fields.  Who  knows  but  there 
are  those  already  born  and  studying  in  our  schools 
or  tending  the  sheep  upon  the  mountains  whose 
prophetic  message  and  trumphet  tones  of  eloquence 
will  resound,  even  in  our  day,  unto  the  uttermost 
parts  of  their  native  land,  raise  the  spiritually  dead 
and  bring  the  people  to  Christ  ? 

This  is  the  greatest  need  of  to-day ;  and,  when 
Christianity  shall  have  touched  life  in  those  lands  at 
its  lowest  depth  and  shall  be  adapted  to  the  special 
nature  and  need  of  the  peoples  there,  then  shall  we 
see  the  Gospel  possessing  souls  ;  and  personalities 
of  commanding  influence  and  God-intoxicated  power 
sweeping  in  majestic  influence  all  over  those  countries. 

In  India,  Brahmanism,  Buddhism  and  Mohammed- 
anism have  developed  such  men.  A  thousand 
years  ago  Sankarachariar  rose  as  a  prophet  and 
revival  preacher  of  the  New  Hinduism  which  he 
caused   to  overcome  Buddhism  as  a  separate  faith 


326        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

in  the  land.  He  was  a  man  of  mighty  intellectual 
power,  a  great  debater,  an  impassioned  advocate 
and  a  man  absolutely  consecrated  to  one  idea.  Such 
a  man,  yes,  such  men,  will  Christianity  also  produce 
in  its  day  ;  and  through  them  our  cause  shall  be 
made  victorious,  and  the  day  q\  foreign  missionary 
propaganda  will  be  at  an  end. 

We  pray  for  such  men  and  expect  them  under 
God's  own  guidance — men  who  shall  combine  the 
spirit  of  a  Neesima,  the  faith  of  an  Isshi,  the  culture 
of  a  Sattianathan,  the  statesmanship  of  a  Crowther, 
the  mystic  power  of  a  Goreh,  and  the  conviction  and 
enthusiasm  of  a  Ramabai.  Through  such  a  man, 
and  through  such  a  body  of  men,  are  Africa  and 
Asia  chiefly  to  be  won  to  Christ. 

John  Wesley  claimed  that  if  the  Church  should 
give  him  but  a  few  men,  consumed  with  a  passion 
for  the  salvation  of  souls,  he  would  speedily  win  the 
whole  world  to  Christ.  Even  one  John  Wesley  of 
the  East,  at  the  present  time,  would  initiate  a  work 
which  would  be  marvellous  in  its  power  and  results. 

2.  A  surprise  of  the  future  will  be  mainly  in  the 
utilization  of  new  forces.  Men,  in  these  days,  are 
apt  to  think  that  the  Church  of  God  has  already 
discovered,  and  partly  exhausted,  all  the  forces 
which  are  to  be  used  in  this  missionary  conflict.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  God  has  new  resources  of  power  yet 
in  store  and  mighty  agencies  that  have  not  yet  been 
utilized,  but  which  will  some  day  astonish  the  world 
and  bring  untold  prosperity  and  power  to  our  cause. 

New  forces  will  be  discovered  against  our  cause. 


The  Future  Outlook  327 

They  will  show  a  bitterness  of  opposition  and  a  re- 
sourceful strategy  beyond  anything  that  we  have 
yet  seen.  In  Chapter  VIII  we  have  referred  to  a 
few  such  which  have  recently  come  into  existence. 
These  will  multiply  as  the  conflict  waxes  warmer ; 
and  they  will  tax  all  the  resources  of  the  patience, 
wisdom,  and  aggressive  energy  of  the  Church. 
Sometimes  they  will  seem  to  triumph  over  our  cause, 
as  in  the  apparent  triumph  of  the  Jewish  forces  at 
the  death  of  our  Lord.  But  missions  will  find  vic- 
tory in  such  defeat  and  will  only  increase  in  power 
and  in  chastened  strength  through  the  influence  of 
every  new  opposition. 

The  forces  which  are  to  be  used  in  behalf  of  the 
propagation  of  our  faith  are  to  multiply. 

(a)  The  moribund  and  decrepit  Churches  of  the 
East  are  to  be  revived  and  to  be  transformed  into  a 
new  power  for  the  cause.  The  Armenian  and  Greek 
Churches  of  Turkey,  the  Syrian  Church  of  India, 
and  other  sleeping  Christian  communities  are  to 
respond  to  the  modern  influences  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  They  have  slept  the  sleep  of  ages.  Even 
in  their  apathy  and  lifeless  condition  God  has  pre- 
served them  and  will  use  later  their  once  palsied 
limbs  in  a  vigorous  campaign  for  His  cause.  The 
day  of  the  new  birth  of  their  power  and  empire  is 
not  far  off.  The  Man  who  sat  at  the  Pool  of  Be- 
thesda  and  brought  healing  and  power  to  the  helpless 
one  who  lay  there,  is  still  ready  to  bring  power  and 
blessing  to  these  moribund  Churches,  and  the  day 
of  their  redemption  is  not  far  off.     The  members  of 


328        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

the  American  missions  in  Turkey  have  brought  their 
own  healthy  life  and  vigour  into  touch  with  the 
Gregorian  and  Armenian  Churches  of  that  land,  and 
there  is  already  a  response  and  a  hopeful  awaken- 
ing. The  evangelicals  of  the  Anglican  Church  in 
Malabar,  South  India,  have  begun  to  infuse  new  life 
into  the  dormant  body  of  the  Syrian  Church  of 
India,  so  that  there  is  a  promise  of  outgoing  bless- 
ing and  power  in  that  community. 

When  these  Churches,  established  for  centuries  in 
many  lands  of  the  East  and  in  Africa,  shall  have 
been  roused  from  their  slumbers  and  brought  into 
possession  of  modern  life  and  ideas  and  of  spiritual 
power  they  will  become  a  force  in  the  redemption  of 
those  lands  beyond,  perhaps,  anything  that  the 
Western  Churches  can  render ;  because  they  are,  in 
a  sense,  indigenous  and  partake  of  the  common  life 
as  they  understand  the  common  need  of  the  people, 
and  can  adequately  interpret  their  mind  and  adapt 
the  Gospel  to  their  special  condition. 

We  have  considered  these  decadent  Christian 
Churches  exclusively  as  lifeless,  helpless  cumber- 
ers  of  the  ground,  which  they  have  been,  to  no 
small  extent.  But  we  have  not  realized  that  these 
same  Churches  have  already  been  considerably  af- 
fected by  the  modern  missionary  campaign  and  are, 
ere  long,  to  become  a  living  part  in  this  active  prop- 
aganda for  the  spread  of  our  religion. 

{b)  The  mission  Church,  also,  will  take  up  the 
song  and  preach  the  message  of  a  world  Gospel  with 
ever-increasing  vigour. 


The  Future  Outlook  329 

The  Church  of  every  non-Christian  land  will  have 
its  own  distinct  message,  and  its  own  peculiar  type 
and  emphasis  upon  truth.  These  individual  notes  of 
the  many  Churches  of  the  world  will  contribute  their 
share  in  producing  the  perfect  harmony  of  the  Uni- 
versal Church  in  its  great  Hallelujah  Chorus  pro- 
claiming that  the  day -of  Christ  Jesus  has  come  in 
power. 

There  is  need  not  only  for  the  Western  Church, 
with  its  message  and  mission,  and  the  revived  an- 
cient Christian  Churches  of  the  East,  with  their  par- 
ticular method  and  emphasis  ;  the  day  will  come 
when  the  Churches  of  Asia  and  Africa  also  will  add 
their  voices  to  the  great  harmony. 

The  Church  of  the  martyrs  in  China  will  have  its 
own  peculiar  emphasis  upon  truth  and  render  its  own 
characteristic  witness  in  sanity  and  in  faithfulness  to 
the  Lord  our  God.  The  staid  severity  and  firm  en- 
durance of  this  Church  of  China  will  shine  with  a 
peculiar  lustre. 

The  consecrated,  outgoing  Church  of  Korea  will 
add  also  its  witness.  It  will  be  an  evangelistic 
Church  which  will  be  contagious  in  its  influence  and 
remarkable  in  the  extent  of  its  piety  and  in  its  power 
to  capture  and  captivate  souls  for  Jesus. 

The  Church  of  India  with  its  God-intoxicated  mind 
must  also  add  its  tribute  and  its  testimony.  It  will 
reveal  a  deeper  type  of  mystic  piety  and  of  other 
worldliness  than  perhaps  any  other  Church  on  earth. 
It  will  not  be  very  practical,  or  deeply  ethical,  or 
conspicuously  aggressive  ;  but  it  will  reveal  the  pa- 


330         The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

tient  endurance  and  the  sweet  passive  virtues  which 
shone  so  beautifully  in  our  Lord's  life. 

Then  there  will  come  the  practical,  aggressive 
Church  of  those  Anglo-Saxons  of  the  East — the 
Japanese.  It  will  be  a  thoughtful  Church  and  will 
push  its  way  vigorously  in  missionary  endeavour 
throughout  the  land. 

The  emotional  and  the  devout  Church  of  Africa 
will  add  its  strain  to  this  Christian  song  of  praise. 
Its  songs  of  Zion  will  appeal  to  the  whole  world  and 
will  reveal  an  intense  devotion  and  a  loving  passion 
for  the  Lord. 

All  these  members  of  the  native  Church,  so  called, 
will  add  volume  to  the  great  testimony  and  will  each 
bring  its  own  colour  to  the  Heavenly  Bow  which  will 
bear  testimony  to  the  divine  promise  that  this  world 
shall  be  saved  with  a  final  and  an  everlasting  salvation. 

{c)  The  future  will  also  see  the  supremacy  of  the 
ethical  and  the  spiritual  in  the  message  of  the  out- 
going missionary  Church. 

During  the  past,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  ef- 
fort of  the  Church  has  been  given  too  much  to  trans- 
mit to  non-Christian  peoples  its  ecclesiasticism,  its 
ceremonialism,  and  its  political  power  rather  than  its 
moral  and  spiritual  dynamics.  But  the  day  will 
come,  and  it  is  much  nearer  than  we  anticipate,  when 
Christianity  will  be  largely  divested  of  its  elaborate 
forms,  ceremonies  and  hierarchical  assumptions  and 
when  it  shall  carry,  in  blessing  and  power,  the  eth- 
ical and  the  spiritual  emphasis  upon  its  life  and  truth 
to  the  non-Christian  peoples. 


The  Future  Outlook  331 

How  often  has  Christianity  been  thwarted,  its 
members  persecuted  and  the  Church  practically 
wiped  out  in  such  lands  as  China  and  Japan,  simply 
because  of  the  sinister  political  ambitions  and  the 
hierarchical  claims  and  arrogance  of  the  Christianity 
which  was  planted  there.  In  India,  also,  one  branch 
of  the  Church  has  been  paralyzed  by  its  all  but  ex- 
clusive emphasis  upon  ritual ;  while  another  branch 
of  the  Church  was  introduced  by  the  sword,  propa- 
gated by  the  inquisition  and  has  since  lived  the  in- 
adequate life  which  it  possesses  largely  through 
excess  of  rites  and  ceremonies  and  prelatic  as- 
sumptions. 

The  world  is  perishing  to-day  for  a  simple  Gospel 
that  appeals  first  and  last  to  human  life  as  a  thing 
of  character  and  as  a  spiritual  aspiration.  And  the 
day  is  not  distant  when  this  Gospel  shall  be  preached 
unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  as  a  thing  of 
moral  and  spiritual  relationship  between  the  soul  and 
God.  The  dynamic  of  ethics  and  of  deep  mystic 
piety  shall  be  united  into  one  mighty  appeal,  and 
the  Church  of  God  shall  give  itself  absolutely  to  the 
cultivation  of  these,  rather  than  to  any  ecclesiastical 
methods  of  indirection  and  human  mediation. 

{d)  The  day  will  also  soon  come  when  there 
shall  be  added  another  force  wTiich  means  distinct 
power  and  wonderful  blessing  to  our  cause  ;  and  that 
is  the  reign  of  international  law  and  universal  peace. 

Already  men  are  beginning  to  realize  that  war  is 
not  only  devilish  in  its  origin  and  spirit  but  also 
insane  and  idiotic  in  its  working.     They  look  at  war 


332        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

as  the  supreme  folly  of  nations  because  they  feel 
increasingly  not  only  the  terrible  financial  burdens 
which  it  imposes  but  also  the  cruel  toll  upon  life 
which  it  exacts.  Many  influences  are  at  work  at  the 
present  time  which  ultimately,  and  at  a  no  distant 
day,  will  bring  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  under  one 
international  law  and  make  further  war  absolutely 
impossible  among  men.  No  one  can  adequately 
realize  the  mighty  influence  which  this  would  exer- 
cise in  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  upon 
earth. 

The  peace  which  was  caused  and  maintained  by 
the  Roman  Empire,  during  apostolic  days,  was  a 
wonderful  means  of  propagating  Christianity.  It 
made  it  possible  for  God's  messengers  to  travel  unto 
the  remotest  parts  of  the  empire  and  to  preach  the 
message  without  molestation. 

We  see,  at  the  present  time,  the  striking  influence 
of  "Pax  Britannica"  which  has,  for  over  half  a 
century,  made  war  impossible  among  the  many 
races  of  India.  It  has  been  one  of  the  supreme 
blessings  of  Great  Britain  to  that  land.  It  has  not 
only  induced  prosperity,  prevented  untold  waste  of 
money  and  loss  of  life  ;  it  has  also  made  it  possible 
for  the  gospel  messenger  to  go  unto  all  parts  of  that 
country  and  to  find  protection  in  the  quiet  delivery 
of  his  message  to  every  sect,  caste  or  tribe. 

In  the  near  future  all  people  will  be  gathered 
under  the  influence  of  a  common  law,  be  protected 
from  the  ravages  of  war  and  will  smile  under  the 
segis  of  universal  peace.     Then  will  the  Gospel  find 


The  Future  Outlook  333 

its  greatest  opportunity  through  the  unhindered 
delivery  of  its  message  and  will  find  absolute  support 
to  that  message  in  the  regime  of  law  and  of  peace 
which  will  everywhere  prevail. 

3.  The  future  will  also  be  a  time  when  the  reflex 
influence  of  missions  will  be  increasingly  felt  in  the 
home  Church. 

Even  now  we  begin  to  recognize  a  distinct  blessing 
and  a  positive  influence  flowing  back  from  missions 
into  the  home  lands. 

All  men  recognize  the  commercial  blessings  which 
flow  from  the  missionary  enterprise.  ,  ''Trade 
follows  in  the  footsteps  of  the  missionary."  Our 
home  markets  feel  the  awakening  of  those  people 
through  Christian  life  and  thought.  To  our  civiliza- 
tion this  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  by-products 
of  the  missionary  enterprise.  The  same  will,  with 
greater  directness  and  emphasis,  occur  in  religious 
sentiment  and  thought.  We  cannot  take  our  faith, 
with  its  Western  graces  and  stirring  call  to  life, 
without  having  imparted  to  us,  in  turn,  the  comple- 
mentary graces  which  are  beginning  to  adorn  it  in 
the  East. 

There  will  be  a  growing  commerce  of  religious 
thought  between  the  Church  of  the  Orient  and  that  of 
the  Occident.  The  metaphysics  of  the  East  and  the 
philosophy  of  the  West  will  act  and  react  one  upon 
the  other  for  the  broadening  of  thought  and  the 
development  of  life. 

In  like  manner,  also,  the  different  emphases  of 
East  and  West  will  carry  its  educating  power  upon 


334        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

both  sections ;  the  Eastern  vision  of  the  too-near  God 
and  of  the  exclusive  supremacy  of  His  life  and 
agency,  will  be  touched  by  the  transcendentalism  of 
the  West ;  and  the  influence  of  the  one  upon  the 
other  will  be  wholesome  and  helpful  to  a  true  com- 
prehension of  the  divine.  We  have  seen  how  the 
materialistic  and  practical  conceptions  of  the  West 
have  already  affected  Eastern  life  and  thought.  We 
will  also  see  increasingly  how  the  deep  mysticism  and 
passion  of  the  East  for  communion  with  the  divine, 
will  tone  down  our  materialism  and  give  a  new  vision 
to  the  too  practical  and  materialistic  tendency  of  the 
West.  This  process  of  action  and  reaction  will  go 
on  with  ever-increasing  fullness  in  the  development 
of  a  world-wide  Christian  thought  and  a  universal 
type  of  Christian  character. 

All  this  will  be  very  materially  promoted  by  the 
coming  of  Eastern  men  of  leadership  to  the  West  to 
communicate  their  thoughts  and  to  impress  their 
type  of  personality  and  of  piety.  One  of  the  most 
remarkable  things  in  the  Edinburgh  Missionary 
Conference  was  the  presence  of  representative  Chris- 
tians from  the  East.  No  one  had  more  cordial 
reception  and  more  thoughtful  attention  in  that  great 
Conference  than  these  distinguished  leaders  of  the 
oriental  Church.  The  devout  Dr.  Chatterjee  and 
the  vigorous  Bishop  Honda,  the  sane  and  practical 
Ch'en  Ching  Yi  and  the  thoughtful  and  brilliant 
President  Harada — these  were  men  whose  message 
was  not  only  heard  with  deep  interest,  but  whose 
words  carried  a  powerful  influence  over  the  whole 


The  Future  Outlook  335 

audience.  Through  them,  men  of  the  West  found  a 
higher  admiration  than  ever  before  for  the  Orient. 
And  the  thought  of  these  Eastern  brethren  will  find  a 
place  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in 
the  world. 

The  number  of  these  distinguished  visitors  will  in- 
crease as  the  years  multiply.  Their  message  to  the 
West  will  command  increasing  respect  and  will  help 
the  West  to  understand  the  East  and  to  broaden  its 
thought  correspondingly. 

The  remarkable  fellowship  revealed  in  the  World's 
Missionary  Conference  was  made  possible,  yea, 
necessary  by  the  growing  union  and  communion  of 
all  the  representatives  of  the  home  Churches  on  the 
foreign  field.  No  Church  can  keep  apart  from  others 
save  by  abstaining  from  foreign  missionary  activity. 
The  contagion  of  union  and  the  infection  of  fellow- 
ship will  work  increasingly  upon  the  mission  field 
and  spread  unto  the  remotest  corners  of  the  West. 

This  is  one  reason  why  the  tendency  of  our  repre- 
sentatives on  foreign  fields  to  form  close  alliances  and 
unions  should  be  encouraged  by  all  interested  in  that 
work.  That  spirit  will  not  be  confined  to  the  mis- 
sion field.  Even  now  it  is  not.  The  writer  recently 
met  a  member  of  the  committer  which  was  appointed 
for  perfecting  a  union  of  three  denominations  in 
Canada,  and  was  told  that  the  Statement  and  Con- 
fession of  the  United  Church  of  South  India,  re- 
cently organized,  had  already  been  considered  by 
them  with  a  view  to  its  use  as  a  basis  of  union  for 
Canada  I 


336        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

The  missionary  need  of,  and  emphasis  upon, 
Christian  union  will  carry,  with  ever-accelerating 
power,  its  blessing  into  the  West. 

How  can  denominations  stand  apart  in  the  home 
lands  when  they  find,  and  some  of  them  even  heart- 
ily encourage,  united  life  and  cordial  fellowship  on 
the  mission  field  ? 

4.     The  future  will  also  be  a  time  of  new  visions. 

New  light  is  to  come  to  the  Church  of  God  in  re- 
gard to  many  things  that  are  fundamental,  but 
which  are  not  at  the  present  time  receiving  the  right 
emphasis  or  appreciation. 

(a)  The  time  will  come  when  the  Kingdom,  and 
not  the  Church,  shall  absorb  the  thought  and  com- 
mand the  supreme  devotion  of  Christians  everywhere. 
Christian  m^n  will  return  more  and  more  to  the 
Christ  conception  of  things. 

Our  Lord  began  His  public  ministry  by  proclaim- 
ing that  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand.  Just  be- 
fore His  ascension.  He  appeared  to  His  disciples  and 
spoke  to  them  things  concerning  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  To  Him  this  Kingdom  was  a  matter  of  su- 
preme importance ;  it  permeated  all  His  thoughts. 
It  was  the  substance  of  His  message  to  man.  Its 
realization  in  the  world  was  the  passion  of  His  soul. 
He  was  also  anxious  that  this  Kingdom  find  suprem- 
acy in  the  mind  of  His  disciples.  He  sought  to 
exalt  it  as  the  ideal  and  the  highest  ambition  of  every 
true  believer.  Next  to  God's  own  name  and  glory 
He  placed  this  as  the  chief  object  of  the  Christian's 
prayer  and  activity.     "Seek  ye  first"— that  is  su- 


The  Future  Outlook  337 

■mely — "■  His  Kingdon    and   His   righteousness." 

He  thus  made  it  His  chief  concern,  so  should  all 
lis  followers ;  and  so  they  will  increasingly. 

What  is  this  Kingdom  ?  It  is  more  than  the 
Church.  It  is  that  spiritual  ideal  of  which  the 
Church  is  but  a  partial  outward  expression,  or  rather 
the  chief  organ  of  its  activity.  Of  that  heavenly  rule 
upon  earth  the  Church  is  but  an  imperfect,  visible 
expression.  The  thousand  divisions  which  to-day 
separate  the  Church  of  God,  their  conflicting  theories, 
their  diverse  policies,  their  unreasoning  rivalries, 
vain  jealousies  and  overemphasized  rituals — these 
certainly  are  not  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  for  whose 
coming  we  are  commanded  to  pray.  We  praise 
God  daily  for  His  Church  upon  earth,  for  its  mani- 
fold forms  and  multitudinous  energies.  These  are 
powerful,  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  the  coming  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  But  the  various  divisions  of 
the  Church  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Kingdom 
which  Christ,  came  to  establish  and  to  build  upon 
earth. 

One  has  well  defined  the  Kingdom  as  the  **  World 
of  invisible  laws,  by  which  God  is  ruling  and  bless- 
ing His  creatures."  It  is  the  reign  by  divine  love  in 
the  hearts  of  men.  It  is  that  rule  of  life  which  pre- 
vails in  heaven  and  which  Christ  brought  with  Him 
from  heaven  and  established  as  a  principle  of  con- 
duct and  as  a  source  of  well-being  upon  earth. 

This  Kingdom  is  a  spiritual  Kingdom,  not  con- 
fined to  any  organization  or  outward  form. 

It  is  also  a  universal  Kingdom.     We  cannot  say 


338        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

of  it  that  it  belongs  to  any  land,  or  people,  or  time  : 
wherever  man  lives  there  does  it  find  its  sphere  of 
ennoblement  and  spiritual  uplifting. 

In  like  manner  it  is  an  eternal  Kingdom.  Its 
dominion  will  never  end  among  the  sons  of  men. 

It  is  also,  and  preeminently,  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ.  He  is  its  King.  It  is  He  who  breathes  into 
every  soul  the  true  spirit  of  the  Kingdom.  He  not 
only  leads  and  inspires  within  the  Church  itself ;  His 
Spirit  transcends  the  Church.  No  earthly  organiza- 
tion can  be  conterminous  with  the  influences  of  His 
Spirit.  It  is  the  leaven  which,  placed  in  this  world 
of  sin,  is  ever  transforming  and  assimilating  all  that 
is  foreign  to  itself. 

The  Kingdom  of  Christ  gathers  within  itself  all 
that  is  true  and  all  that  is  ethically  and  spiritually 
beautiful  among  the  sons  of  men.  It  draws  no  clear 
line  of  distinction  between  that  which  is  good  in 
Christianity  and  that  which  is  good  outside  of  it.  It 
declines  to  classify  the  ethical  and  spiritual  traits  of 
life  into  Christian  and  non-Christian.  Every  worthy 
ambition,  wherever  found,  is  divine;  every  coin  of 
sincere  piety  and  of  genuine  righteousness,  among 
whatever  people,  carries  upon  it  the  impress  of  the 
King  of  kings.  The  Apostle  Peter  well  said,  "  Of  a 
truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons  ; 
but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  Him  and  worketh 
righteousness  is  acceptable  to  Him." 

As  we  look  at  the  true  Spirit  of  Christ  moving 
among  the  sons  of  men  outside  the  confines  of  the 
Christian  Church  we  should  be  prepared  to  recog- 


The  Future  Outlook  339 

nize  Christ  in  it  and  to  regard  its  spirit  as  a  part  of 
His  Kingdom.  The  Red  Cross  organization  and  a 
thousand  other  kindred  institutions,  that,  in  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  are  ministering  to  the  wounded,  the 
sick  and  the  degraded,  to  wandering,  fallen  youth 
that  strays  from  virtue  and  to  decrepit  old  age 
which  is  helpless  and  homeless — all  of  these  humane 
and  charitable  organizations  are  separate  from  the 
Church,  though  they  are  the  true  offspring  of  the 
spirit  of  our  religion.  In  Christian  lands  their  name 
is  legion  and  they  are  multiplying  with  wonderful 
rapidity.  They  are  binding  with  a  thousand  golden 
cords  of  love  our  whole  human  family.  Many  of 
them  have  no  sympathy  with  ecclesiasticism.  But 
all,  with  no  uncertain  sound,  bespeak  the  presence 
and  the  animating  spirit  of  our  blessed  Lord  and 
Master.  The  prayer,  or  the  appreciation,  of  the 
true  Christian  will  not,  in  the  near  future,  discrimi- 
nate in  favour  of  the  Red  Cross  Society  of  Christian 
America  as  against  the  same  society  of  non-Christian 
Japan.  The  true  Christian,  as  he  offers  the  prayer 
of  his  Lord,  **  Thy  Kingdom  come,"  stands  on  Cal- 
vary's mount  and  gazes  from  that  vantage  ground 
unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  and  prays  for 
every  thought  or  effort  which  is  Christlike  in  its 
spirit  and  heavenly  in  its  fragrance. 

This  universal  conception  of  the  Kingdom  of  our 
Lord  and  its  application  to  the  life  of  men  every- 
where, is  one  which  will  grow  increasingly. 

It  is  growing  in  the  non-Christian  world  to-day. 
This  is  why  millions  of  the  East  admire  and  extol 


340        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Christ  and  His  ideal  of  life,  while  they  stand  aloof 
from  Christianity.  It  is  pardy  the  reason  why 
Sabbath  observance  is  now  the  rule  in  non-Christian 
Japan  and  India  and  among  other  peoples.  The 
sentiments  of  the  Kingdom  are  spreading  every- 
where. And  the  day  will  come  when  the  Kingdom 
thought  shall  dominate  the  Christian  world  and 
shall,  in  a  subtle  way,  spread  throughout  all  non- 
Christian  lands ;  a  day  also  when  the  churchly  idea 
and  passion  shall  take  a  subordinate  position  and 
find  a  secondary  consideration  as  a  motive  and  am- 
bition of  Christian  life. 

{b)  Another  future  vision  which  is  to  become 
clear  and  potential  in  the  great  missionary  enter- 
prise is  that  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Man. 

We  are. still  torn  with  racial  pride  and  prejudice. 
The  best  of  us  may  spasmodically  entertain  these 
ideas  of  fraternity ;  but  w^e  never  live  up  to  them. 
Caste  assertion  and  national  arrogance  and  racial 
bitterness  are  things  which  still  exist  and  have  a 
large  influence,  at  the  present  time,  in  shaping  the 
thought  and  action  of  the  Christian  Church.  How 
deeply  the  question  of  colour  enters  into  our 
thought  and  characterizes  our  sentiments  at  the 
present  time !  The  Brotherhood  of  Saints  is  still 
limited,  or  at  least  largely  modified,  by  outer, 
physical  characteristics.  In  America,  this  narrow 
spirit  has  in  some  ways  been  intensified  by  the 
racial  difficulties  of  the  last  few  years.  Will  this 
spirit  ever  cease  and  souls  be  drawn  together  and 
swayed  by  spiritual  affinities  alone  ?     Will  men  deal 


The  Future  Outlook  341 

with  other  men,  who  are  their  brothers  in  Christ,  in 
accordance  with  the  deep  spiritual  character  which 
they  reveal ;  or  will  it  continue  to  be,  at  least  partly, 
on  the  basis  of  their  colour  or  racial  and  linguistic 
differences  ? 

Perhaps  race  antipathies  were  never  more  aggres- 
sive than  now ;  and  beyond  these  are  others  of  class 
differences  whereby,  in  the  churches  of  to-day,  the 
labourer  and  the  employer,  the  men  of  learning  and 
the  proletariat,  the  classes  and  the  masses,  seem  to 
be  going,  each  its  own  way,  and  separating  one 
from  the  other  in  our  churches. 

Yet  we  are  aware  of  deep  forces  which  are  uniting 
all  classes  as  never  before.  The  conflict  is  on  at 
this  one  particular  point.  We  talk  glibly  to-day  of 
the  **  Brotherhood  of  Man,"  and  we  have  advanced 
far  enough  to  demand  that  other  Christians  should 
be  swayed  by  the  sentiment ;  but  we  hesitate  to 
apply  it  to  our  own  life  and  conduct.  The  day, 
however,  will  come,  and  many  mighty  forces  are 
working  towards  its  early  realization,  when  this 
sentiment  of  the  universal  brotherhood  of  mankind 
will  work  with  a  new  power  and  will  take  a  leading 
place  among  the  forces  which  direct  and  inspire  all 
the  members  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  modern 
divisive  spirit  will  yield  to  the  Christian  dynamic  of 
brotherhood.  This  sentiment  will  become  a  living 
and  a  vitalizing  force  in  the  Church  and  man  will 
meet  man  and  seek  man  everywhere  for  his  better- 
ment and  his  salvation  because  he  is  his  brother  and 
because   that   fraternal   sentiment  has   become  the 


342        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

passion  of  his  soul.  Then  shall  we  find  a  mighty 
new  impulse  among  all  Christians,  and  a  new  sense 
of  obligation  to  go  forth  unto  men  of  all  races,  to 
seek  them  with  a  saving  blessing  because  they  are 
their  own  kith  and  kin,  sons  of  a  common  Father. 

*'  The  crest  and  crowning  of  all  good, 
Life's  final  star,  is  Brotherhood ; 
For  it  will  bring  again  to  earth 
Her  long-lost  Poesy  and  Mirth ; 
Will  send  new  light  on  every  face, 
A  kingly  power  upon  the  race. 
And  till  it  comes,  we  men  are  slaves, 
And  travel  downward  to  the  dust  of  graves.  • 

*'  Come,  clear  the  way,  then,  clear  the  way; 
BHnd  creeds  and  kings  have  had  their  day. 
Break  the  dead  branches  from  the  path : 
Our  hope  is  in  the  aftermath  — 
Our  hope  is  in  heroic  men. 
Star-led  to  build  the  world  again. 
To  this  event  the  ages  ran  : 
Make  way  for  Brotherhood — make  way  for  man. 


»»i 


5.     The  future  also  is  a  Vision  of  Bright  Promise. 

Everything  connected  with  the  Kingdom  of  our 
Lord  is  glowing  with  a  promise  and  a  prophecy  of 
blessing  and  power  for  the  future. 

The  conviction  that  we  possess  the  eternal  truth 
of  God,  that  all  men  need  it  and  that  there  is  one 
Saviour  who  is  at  the  heart  of  God's  eternal  truth, 
and  that  there  is  "  No  other  name  under  heaven  given 
among  men  wherein  we  must  be  saved  " — this  has  a 
wonderful  power  for  the  future.  The  infinite  fullness 
of  this  Christ  as  a  Saviour  of  all  men  who  come  unto 

»  Edwin  Markham,  in  "  The  Man  With  the  Hoe  and  Other  Poems." 


The  Future  Outlook  343 

God  by  Him ;  and  the  absolute  inadequacy  of  any 
other  way  or  faith  to  this  end,  is  a  dynamic  whose 
power  will  increase  with  the  ages.  The  Church  will 
grow  in  this  faith  and  conviction  and  in  a  corre- 
sponding purpose  to  make  it  known  to  men. 

Kindred  to  this  thought  is  the  other,  namely,  that 
the  beautified  and  glorified  Christianity  of  the  future 
will  increasingly  inspire  its  followers  to  transmit  it  to 
others.  Is  Christianity  worth  propagating  in  the 
world  to-day  ?  Once,  in  his  Hfe,  a  Christian  doubted 
about  this  when  he  saw,  in  the  city  of  Rome,  his 
faith  so  incrusted  in  superstition  and  so  debased  with 
senseless  ritual.  But,  as  he  is  to-day  gazing  upon  it 
increasingly  beautified  and  ennobled  by  the  charac- 
ter and  intelHgence  of  its  followers ;  as  he  is  seeing 
it  purified  gradually  of  its  former  dross,  he  realizes 
that  it  is  more  and  more  worthy  of  being  transmitted 
and  proclaimed  to  men  in  all  the  dark  lands  of  the 
earth. 

Yes,  the  future  brings  to  us  the  vision  of  a  trans- 
formed and  a  glorified  Christianity ;  a  vision  also  of 
the  growing  passion  of  its  followers  and  devotees  to 
carry  it  in  its  beauty  and  to  reveal  it  in  its  transcend- 
ent and  spiritual  glory  to  those  who  are  besotted  by 
heathenism  in  all  its  forms. 

When  our  Gospel  is  disencumbered  of  its  overlaid 
superstitions  and  its  ecclesiastical  glamour  then  will 
it  commend  itself  increasingly  to  the  world.  Then 
also  will  Christian  men  rejoice  in  its  attractiveness 
and  power,  and  non-Christians  will  recognize  it  as  a 
thing   of   beauty  and  a  dynamic  of  saving  grace. 


344        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Every  Christian  will  then  have  a  new  confidence  in 
his  religion.     He  will  exclaim  with  the  poet  % 

*'  I  know  of  a  land  that  is  sunk  in  shame 

Of  hearts  that  faint  and  tire 
And  1  know  of  a  Name,  a  Name,  a  Name 

That  can  set  that  land  on  fire. 
Its  sound  is  a  brand,  its  letters  flame — 
I  know  of  a  Name,  a  Name,  a  Name 

IVi'// stt  that  land  on  fire." 

As  a  part  of  this  vision  of  promise  it  is  worth  re- 
membering how  far  Christianity  has  come  into  pos- 
session of  political  power  and  influence  in  the  world. 
Mark  how  Christian  nations,  especially  Protestant 
nations,  are  multiplying  their  political  influence  and 
showing  their  qualities  of  leadership  and  control  in 
the  world.  The  Japanese  are  the  only  people  repre- 
senting a  non-Christian  power  of  modern  develop- 
ment and  efficiency.  Is  it  not  because  she  has  ab- 
sorbed the  ideals  and  copied  the  methods  of  Chris- 
tian nations  ? 

See  the  developing  influence  of  Great  Britain,  the 
United  States  and  Germany,  among  the  races  of  the 
world  at  the  present  time.  More  than  one-third  of 
the  world  is  under  the  definite  political  control  and 
authority  of  these  nations. 

And,  with  this,  notice  also  the  growing  prevalence 
of  the  English  language.  In  the  first  century  of 
our  era  the  spread  of  the  Christian  religion  depended, 
to  a  no  small  extent,  upon  the  prevalence  and  the 
dominance  of  the  Greek  tongue  which  was  the  ve- 
hicle of  our  faith.     So,  also,  is  the  English  language 


The  Future  Outlook  343 

it  the  present  time  preeminently  the  language  of 
Protestant  Christendom  ;  and  it  is  rapidly  becoming 
the  world  language.  Its  use  and  the  use  of  its  liter- 
ature is  becoming  increasingly  potential  in  the  dis- 
semination of  our  faith  and  in  the  exaltation  of  a 
pure  Christianity  throughout  the  world. 

This  influence  is  to  extend  until  men  everywhere 
shall,  through  it,  learn  of  Jesus  and  Him  crucified  as 
the  only  Saviour  of  the  world. 

And,  finally,  the  future  is  a  time  of  missionary 
promise  because  it  has  the  potency  of  God  clearly 
revealed  within  it. 

The  Church  of  Christ  will  do  well  to  keep  in  the 
forefront  of  its  advancing  army  the  banner  of  the 
promise  and  the  prophecy  of  God. 

In  God's  Word  we  have  the  clear  word  of  prophecy 
and  the  unmistakable  voice  of  promise  as  we  conduct 
the  missionary  enterprise. 

God  Himself  is  committed  to  this  universal  con- 
quest  of  our  faith,  *'  Ask  of  Me  and  I  will  give  thee 
the  nations  for  thy  inheritance  and  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possessions."  The  divine 
Son  exclaimed,  in  word  of  promise  to  His  own, 
**And  I  when  I  be  lifted  up  will  draw  all  men  unto 
Me."  And  again,  **  Lo !  h  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  Christ  in  the 
Church  as  its  leader  and  dynamic  power  is  the  hope 
of  its  glory  and  of  its  universal  prevalence. 

This  confidence  of  the  Church  in  the  universal 
reign  of  Christ  in  the  world  must  be  maintained 
and  will  be  maintained  with  ever-growing  promi- 


346        The  Modem  Missionary  Challenge 

nence  by  His  people.  He  is  pledged  to  its  success. 
He  has  foretold  its  consummation.  We  are  all  fel- 
low workers  with  God  in  this  great  world  enterprise. 
It  will  never  fail,  because  He  is  with  us.  It  will 
succeed,  because  it  is  His  plan  of  the  eternal  ages. 

In  the  strength  of  this  conviction,  and  leaning 
mightily  upon  His  word  of  promise,  shall  we  go  on 
from  strength  to  strength  until  He  shall  be  made 
King  and  shall  rule  with  power  over  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth. 

Filled  with  this  hope  and  confidence  the  mission- 
ary enterprise  is  to  go  on  from  power  to  power  and 
with  ever-accelerating  progress  until  all  mankind 
shall  accept  Him  and  worship  Him  as  Lord  of  all. 

May  God  hasten  the  day. 

**0h,  bless  our  God,  ye  peoples, 
And  make  the  voice  of  His  praise  to  be  heard." 


Statistical  Preface 

FOLLOWING  is  a  series  of  statistical 
tables  which  are  a  modified  form  of  the 
Summary  Tables  presented  to  the  World 
Missionary  Conference,  by  its    Commission  No.  L 

They  reveal  the  impress  of  the  painstaking 
thoroughness  of  Dr.  James  S.  Dennis  and  his  co- 
labourers  who  have  thus  earned  the  gratitude  of 
the  Christian  Church.  They  reveal  a  vast  amount 
of  research  and  wisdom  in  the  grouping  of  many 
data  for  the  furnishing  of  stimulating  results. 

These  tables  also  reveal  the  serious,  and  I  may 
add,  the  unfortunate,  limitations  under  which  the 
Commission  was  constrained  to  prepare  them; 
whereby  the  work  of  Protestant  Missionary  Societies 
for  Christians  is  eliminated  and  only  their  efforts  for 
non-Christian  people  is  presented. 

This  was  a  part  of  the  fundamental  condition  and 
sine  qua  non  of  the  attendance  of  High  Church 
Anglicans  and  some  others  at  the  Conference. 

So  long  as  the  Protestant  Church  regards  efforts 
in  certain  Christian  lands  as  a  part  of  its  foreign 
missionary  duty — to  carry  a  pure  Gospel  to  the 
benighted  and  superstitious  followers  of  a  moribund 
type  of  Christianity ;  so  long,  it  seems  to  me,  should 
it  be  reported  faithfully  and  its  triumphs  recorded. 

Still,  this  may  not  be  too  great  a  price  to  pay  for 
347 


348        The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

the  union  of  all  Protestant  communions  in  the  mis- 
sionary enterprise.  It  may  also  be  worth  while,  once 
at  least,  if  not  always,  to  place  before  the  minds  of 
Protestant  Christians,  a  view  of  their  work  for  non- 
Christians  which  is  upon  a  higher  level  of  value  and 
urgency  than  the  effort  to  bring  non-Protestant  Chris- 
tians to  our  own  type  of  faith  and  to  our  own  level 
of  spiritual  attainment. 

While  I  thus  regret  that  these  tables  do  not  in- 
clude all  the  work  of  our  foreign  missionary  so- 
cieties, they  are  doubtless  by  far  the  most  advanced, 
thorough  and  up-to-date  statistics  of  Protestant  mis- 
sionary work  for  non-Christians  ever  prepared. 

I  have  also  added  the  table  on  Roman  Catholic 
missionary  effort  as  furnishing  a  unique  addition  to 
our  knowledge  of  the  work  conducted  by  that  great 
Church,  a  work  which  runs  parallel  with  our  own. 
I  desire  thus  to  express  my  appreciation  of  what  she 
also,  as  a  part  of  all  Christendom,  is  doing  to  bring 
the  world  to  Christ.  This  may,  in  itself,  have  a 
liberalizing  tendency  upon  the  reader  and  may  help, 
in  a  very  humble  way,  to  hasten  the  day  when  all 
Christians  shall  be  one,  at  least  in  this  great  work 
of  the  redemption  of  our  race. 

J.  P.  Jones. 


TABLE  II 
General  and  Evangelistic  Summary 


COUNTRIES  AND  SOCIETIES. 


u 


Native  Workers. 


mi 


tin 
'  1 


I  3 

Hi 


1  (with  Fori 


Chinese  Empire 

Siam  and  French  Indo-China 

British  Malaysia 

Dutch  East  Indies 

Philippine  Islands 

Australia  (Aborigines  and  Chinese)     .    . 

New  Zealand  (Maoris) 

Melanesia  (except  Dutch  New  Guinea)  . 
Micronesia  (except  Hawaiian  Islands)    . 

India     .'.'.'.'..'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.    \ 


Ceylon 

Persia 

Turkish  Empire  (except  Syria  and  Palestine) 


4,475 

9,064 

347,759 

II 

524 
1,413 
23,965 
7,192 
61,632 
522,743 
16,298 


82,221 
89,609 
214,546 


Western  Africa  (Senegal  to  Nigeria) 

Southwest  Africa  (Kamerun  to  German  Southwest  Africa)  .    .    , 

South  Africa  (Uritish  Union  with  Basutoland  and  Swaziland) 

Southern  Central  Africa  (Five  British  Protectorates) 

East  Africa  (Portuguese,  German,  British) 

Madagascar  and  Mauritius 

South  America  (Indians  and  Asiatic  Immigrants) 

Central  America  (Indians) 

West  Indies  (Asiatic  Immigrants)    .    .  

Unitcil  .States,  including  Alaska  (Indians  and  Eskimos) 
United  States,  including  Hawaiian  '  '      ■       ■    ■    ■    - 
Can.ida  and  the  Labrador  (Indians  and  Eskimos) 


17,184 
513i66U 


248,702 
103,201 
1,144,926 
92,583 
118,107 
286,702 
33,173 
8,746 


87,433 
110,865 
65,482 


4,468 
31,354 

8,989 


20,968 
68,254 
68,803 


40,426 
673,464 
26,651 


193,499 
26,730 
688,434 


1,925,205     3,006,373     5,281,871 


•  Physicians  whi 
1  Stations  in  wh 


e  ordained  are  entered  i 


sevein'  , 

Christians  recorded,  but  the  explanation  a 
II  As  church  statistics  in  Turkey,  Syri 


cady  givei 


engaged  especially  in  missions  to  Hebrews, 
ist  of  regularly  established  churches.     The 
ire  also  for  this  apparent  discrepancy. 
,  Northeast  Africa,  and  Persia  are  not 


Converts  from  the 


TABLE  I 
Summary  of  Missionary  Societies 


Societies. 

Contributions. 

<u 

11 

4J 

to 

(2 

1 

s 

COUNTRIES. 

< 

|1 

< 

G? 

7 
47 

2 

37 
1 

10 

1 

4 

1 

40 
5 
6 
4 

1 
5 

21, 

26 

25 

1 

2 

1 

1 

3 

o 
H 

29 
204 

29 
7 
4 

136 

10 

35 

3 

10 

4 

6 

68 

18 

13 

15 

3 

32 

5 

8 

27 

76 

34 

2 

4 

4 
2 

•2  ti 

< 

'i 

o 

American  and  Canadian  Societies 
Canada            .        

11 

96 

16 
4 
3 

57 
3 

14 
2 

5 
3 
2 

25 
9 
5 
7 
1 

19 
3 
8 

5 
25 

8 
1 
4 

2 

11 

61 

11 
3 
1 

42 

6 

11 

1 

1 
3 
3 

4 
2 

4 

1 
8 
o 

1 

:l 

1 

£    155,138 
1,852,317 

46;  129 
31,871 

No  statement 

1,714,365 

28,546 

335,630 

18,210 

15,968 
11,197 
36,671 
427,455 
43,229 
49,747 
70,682 
11,903 
97,771 
1,200 
16,137 

25,264 

40,004 

37,148 

No  statement 

2,517 

1,715 
411 

1       754,897 

United  States.    ....... 

Australasian  Societies 

Australia 

New  Zealand 

Tasmania 

British  and  Irish  Societies 

Englani  . 

Ireland 

9,013,376 

224,464 
155,084 
of  incomes. 

8,342,100 
138,905 

Scotland 

Wales  .            

1,633,176 

88,610 

Continental  Societies 

77,699 

Finland 

France 

54,483 

178,435 

Germany     ......... 

2,079,989 
210,351 
242,064 

The  Netherlands 

Norway 

343,993 

Switzerland 

South  African  Societies    .... 
West  Indian  Societies       .... 
Soc's  in  Africa,  except  S.  Africa 
Societies  in  Asia 

China       .        

57.918 

475,^54 

5,839 

78,518 

122,931 

India  and  Ceylon 

Tapan  

194,650 
180,757 

Korea 

of  incomes. 

Turkish  Empire 

Societies  in  Malaysia 

Dutch  East  Indies 

Philippine  Islands      .... 

12,244 

8,34£ 
2,00C 

Totals 

338 

203 

247 

788 

£5,071,225 

$24,676,58G 

349 


350  The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 


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Statistical  Preface 


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Statistical  Preface 


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355 


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Index 


Adaptation  of  life  to  the  East, 

'47 
Afghanistan,  255 
Africa,  51,  60,  199 
African  Church,  330 
Africander,  203 
American  Board,  304 
American  unrest,  50 
Animists  of  Africa,  123 
Armenian  Church,  135,  327 
Arya-Somaj,  277 

Aryan  White  and  Aryan  Brown,  69 
Ascetic  ideal,  148 
Atonement,  Umited,  16 
Auxiliary  missionary  societies,  316 

Balfour,  Lord,  174 

Bannerjee,  Kali  Charran,  86 

Bannerjee,  K.  M.,  163 

Barton,  J.  L.,  186,  267 

Battak  Mission,  226 

Beef-eating,  145 

Beirut  College,  199 

Belgian  king,  270 

Benefits  of  Church  Union,  181 

Besant,  Mrs.  Annie,  214 

Bhutan,  253 

Bible,  supreme  value  of,  76 

Bible,  translation  of,  243 

Bishop,  Mrs,  Isabella  Bird,  187 

Boarding-schools,  236 

Boxer  uprising,  202,  271 

Boycott  commercial,  262 

Brahman,  68,  124,  198 

Brahmanism,  82 

Brahmo-Somaj,  215 

Brotherhood  of  man,  24,  55,  392, 

340 
Bryan,  W.  J.,  188 
Buddhism,  81 


Cairo,  258 

Canadian  church  union,  335 

Canterbury,  Archbishop  of,  a86 

Cary,  Dr.  Otis,  205 

Caste  system,  323 

Change  in  the  Christian  converti, 

Chatterjee,  Dr.,  334 

China,  59,  62,  100 

Chinaman,  124 

Chinese  Christians,  194 

Christian  Endeavour  Society,  299 

Christian  literature,  240 

Christian  Literature  Society,  243 

Christian  Science,  275 

"  Christianity  and  the  Nations,"  97, 

161,  215 
Christianity  in   China  and  Japan, 

137 
Church  union,  170 
Church  union,  in  Africa,  178 
Clarke,  Dr.  W.  N.,  280,  321 
Colleges  on  mission  fields,  234 
Commercial  interest  of   missions, 

53 

Commission,  Last,  42 

Commission  reports  of  World  Mis- 
sionary Conference,  112,  116 

Comparative  Religion,  54,  87 

Concentration  of  work,  108 

Condition  which  the  challenge 
furnishes,  46 

Cdngo,  Valley  of,  270 

Consciousness,  modern    Christian, 

15 

Conservation  of  non-Christian  doc- 
trines, 55 

Constructive  method,  129 

Cosmopolitism  of  the  Christian,  46 

Creeds,  172 


367 


358 


Inde. 


Criticism  must  be  constructive,  83 
Crowther,  Bishop,  203 

Dancing  girl,  218 

Datta,  Dr.,  161 

"  Daybreak  in  the  Dark  Continent," 

192 
"  Daybreak  in  Turkey,"  267 
Debts,  308 
Defects     in     home    organizations, 

308 
DeForest,  Dr.,  146,  178,  211 
Denationalized  converts,  144 
Denby,  Dr.,  229 
Denominational  societies,  306 
"  Desire  of  India,  The,"  163 
Destructive  method,  129 
Diffusion,  108 
Discrimination  needed,  144 
Dispensaries,  233 
Distinguished  native  converts,  203 
DuBois,  Abbe,  148 

East  and  West,  67,  87 

East  India  Company,  59 

Eastern  Churdhes,  324 

Edinburgh,  World  Missionary  Con- 
ference, 174,  286 

Education,  passion  for  in  the  East, 
65,98 

Educational  work — how  far,  98 

Ellis,  W.  T.,  228,  279 

Empire  builders,  230 

"  Empire  of  Christ,  The,"  96,  123 

Epworth  League,  300 

Ethiopian  movement,  199 

Ethnic  religion,  80 

Evangelistic  zeal  of  Koreans,  166 

Evangelization  of  the  world  in 
this  generation,  278 

Experience,  argument  from,  141 

Faith,  doctrine  of,  85 
Famine  in  South  India,  322 
Famine  offering,  48 
Federation  and  cooperation,  1 1 1 
Fifth  Gospel,  144 
Fourfold  message  of  Christ,  92 
French  Hindu  China,  253 


Fukien,  China,  224 
Future  outlook,  the,  319 

Gale,  J.  S.,  156,  224 

Ganesh,  132 

Germany,  societies  in,  306 

Gordon,  General,  269 

Goreh,  N,,  163 

Governments,  Christian,  268 

Governments  and  missionaries, 
112,  114 

Governments  helpful,  58 

Governments,  non-Christian,  266 

Greek  Church,  327 

Greek  teaching  about  Fatherhood, 
20 

Gregorian  Church,  327 

Growth  of  native  Christian  com- 
munity, 188 

Harada,  Dr.,  206,  311 
Harrison,    ex- President  Benjamin, 

209 
Hawaiian  Islands,  47 
Henson,  Canon  Hensley,  174 
Hicks,  Mr.  H.  W.,  315 
High  schools  on  mission  fields,  336 
Hindu,  132 

Hindu  philanthropy,  246 
Hinduism,  82,  164 
Hindu  Tract  Societies,  264 
Honda,  Bishop,  206,  334 
Horton,  Dr.  R.  F.,  18,  20 
Hospitals,  233 
Hsi,  Pastor,  204 
Hymn-books,  243 

Ideals,  new,  151 

"  Imitation  of  Christ,  The,"  134 

India,  96 

Indian  Archipelago,  126 

Indian  Christians,  149,  158,  160 

India's  incarnations,  26 

India's  unrest,  64 

Industrialism,  104 

Institutions  on  mission  fields,  233 

Interdenominational      movements, 

293.  304 
International  law,  331 
Inventions,  47 


Index 


359 


Ishii,  Mr.  J.,  205 
Islam,  activity  of,  256 
Islands  of  the  Sea,  190,  255 
Israel,  people  of,  247 

••  Japan,"  204 

Japan's  change,  6 1 

Japanese,  125,  159,  177.  194,  211 

Japanese  Emperor,  worship  of,  146 

Japanese  orphanage,  204 

Japanese    race    consciousness,   66, 

211 
Jesuit,  148 
Jesus'  teaching  about   Fatherhood 

of  God,  21 
Jesus,  the  world  Christ,  88 
Jewett,  Dr.,  282 
Jews,  work  for,  247 
Jones,  Dr.  G.  H.,  155 
Judaism,  18 

Kali,  132 

Karens  of  Burma,  32,  193 

Kat;ma,  doctrine  of,  85 

Kempis,  Thomas  k,  134 

Khartoum,  269 

Kindergartens  on  mission  field,  239 

Kingdom  of  God,  35,  210,  336 

Kipling,  73,  273 

Koran,  258 

Korea,  51,  322 

•«  Korea  in  Transition,"  155,  224 

Koreans,  63,  166 

Krishna,  132 

Lama,  Dalai,  52 

Laymen's    Missionary   Movement, 

293 

Leper  asylums,  246 

Life  problems,  90 

Literature,  240 

««  Living  (the)  Christ  and  Dying 
Heathenism,"  80,  128,  140,  168, 
190,  226 

Livingstone,  David,  191 

London   Times  correspondent,  229 

Lord's  prayer,  17 1 

Lost,  parables  of  the,  27 

Love,  the  root  principle  of  Chris- 
tianity, 40 


Love  as  a  motive  power,  138 
Lucas,  Rev.  Bernard,  95,  123 

Madagascar,  202 

Madura  Mission,  157 

Magnitude  of  the  task,  25 1 

Manchuria,  224 

Markham,  Edwin,  342 

Mass  movements  on  mission  fields, 

118 
Mass  movements,  dangers  of,  120 
Mass    movements,   advantages  of, 

120 
McKinley,  President,  60 
Men  and  missions,  228 
Men  of  the  East,  324 
Methods,  new,  122 
Methods  of  Jesus,  128 
Mild  Hindu,  91 
Mission  Churches,  the,  328 
"  Missionary  and  His  Critics,  The," 

186 
Missionary  force,  the,  227 
Missionary  organizations,  304 
Mletchas,  46 

Modern  Christian  consciousness,  15 
Modern  missionary,  228 
Moffat,  191,  203 
Mohammedanism,  81,  2IO 
Monistic  thought,  276 
Monthly  Concert,  285 
Moody,  Mr.  Dwight,  294 
Moore,  Rev.  J.  Z.,  167,  224 
Moral  dynamic,  Christianity  a,  143 
Morrison,  Dr.,  195 
Moslem  intolerance,  259 
Movements,   new   in  the   Church, 

292 
Mozoomdar,  Protab,  133 
Mtesa,  King,  255 
Mukti,  207 
Mttller,  George,  205 

Nation  in  a  day,  a,  193 
National    Missionary    Society,  In- 
dian, 169 
Nationalism,  176 
Native  Church,  226 
Native  workers,  force  of,  230 
Naylor,  W.  S.,  192 


360 


Index 


Ndombe,  King,  61 

Nepal,  253 

New  forces,  326 

Newspapers  on  mission  field,  242 

Nobili,  Robert  de,  148 

Non-contributing  Churches,  314 

North  Africa,  200 

Northfield,  Mass.,  294 

Ongole,  282 

Opposition  in  non-Christian  lands, 

256 
Orient  and  Occident,  67 
"Oriental  Christ,  The,"  133 
Orphanages,  246 

Pagans  of  Africa,  258 

Pan-Islam,  259 

Pantheism,  84 

Parsee  convert,  208 

Parsee  marriage,  33 

Patient  endurance  of  native  Chris- 
tians, 201 

Patriotism,  new,  261 

Paul,  St.,  about  Fatherhood  of  God, 
22 

Pax  Britannica,  332 

Pedagogy,  122 

Persecution  of  converts,  201 

Peter,  St.,  338 

Philanthropic  institutions,  245 

Philanthropy,  106 

Political  ambitions,  321 

Positive  method,  125 

Power  of  Protestant  nations,  344 

Prayer  Meeting  Hill,  282 

Present  forces  and  agencies,  221 

Presses,  239 

Primary  schools,  238 

Problems,  new,  78 

Protestant  effort,  136 

Psychology,  122 

Public   schools    as  an  open  field. 

Publishing  houses,  240 

Racial  consciousness  in  the  East, 

67 
Radical  Christian  thought,  89 
Railroads  of  the  world,  48 


Ramabai,  Pundita,  207 
Ransom  to  Satan,  16 
Red  Cross  Society,  339 
Reflex  influences,  333 
Religion,  the  universal,  33 
Religion,  unique,  36 
Religious  thought,  340 
Religious    thought,   non-Christian, 

79 
Rescue  homes,  246 
Response  of  the  Church,  283 
Revival  movements,  222 
"  Rice  Christians,"  201 
Ridicule,  avoid,  126 
Robert     College,    Constantinople, 

199 
Robinson,  John,  17 
Rochester  Convention  report,  225 
Roman  Catholic  missions,  248 
Romish  Church,  135,  189 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  186 
Russian  Orthodox  Church  missions, 

189,  250 
Russian  War,  65 

Satan,  ransom  to,  16 

Sattianathan,  Dr.  S.,  208 

Sattianathan,  Mrs.  S.,  209 

Schools  on  mission  fields,  236 

Scientific  discoveries,  47 

Self-supporting  Church,  152,  155 

Self-directing  Church,  158 

Sen,  Keshab  Sunder,  29 

Shanghai  Conference,  115 

Simplicity  of  Christ,  13 1 

Singh,  Miss  Lilivat,  209 

Slavery,  16 

Social  Reform  Society,  Indian,  213 

Soforth,  Rev,  J.,  224 

"  Sons  and  Daughters  of  India," 

the,  214 
Sorabji  Cornelia,  208 
Speer,  Dr.  R.  E.,  97»  I07»  160,  215, 

257,  270 
Spirit  omnipresent,  30 
Spirit  of  God  as  a  power,  221 
Stanley,  H.  M.,  51,  167,  187 
Statistical  tables,  349 
Stephens,  Chancellor,  174 
Stevenson,  R.  L.,  186 


Index 


361 


Stokes,  Mr.,  149 

Student  Volunteer  Movement,  294 

"  Study  of  Christian  Missions,  A,'' 

281,  321 
Subjective  source,  15 
Sudan,  258 
Sumatra,  168 
Sunday-schools,  300 
«« Sunrise    in    Sunrise    Kingdom," 

156,  211 
Surprises  to  come,  320 
Swamies,  Hindu,  260,  276 
Syrian  Church,  135,  158,  165 

Taft,  W.  H.,  President,  186,  271, 

273 
Tennyson,  89 
Tenrikkyo,  62 

Testimony  for  missions,  1 86,  228 
Theological  seminaries,  300 
Theosophy,  276 
Thought  leadership,  162 
Tibet, '52,  253 

Tinnevelly  Mission,  161,  198 
Top-knot,  145 
Tract  Societies,  242 
Training  Institutions,  235 
Travelling  habit,  49 
Triumphs,  present  missionary,  185 
Turk,  124 
Turkey,  58,  63,  267 
Turkish  intolerance,  267 
Twelve,  the,  34 

Uganda  Mission,  154,  167,  192 
Unfinished  task  of  missions,  252 
Union,  Church,  170,  179 
Union  Theological  College,  179 
Unique  religion,  36 


United  study  of  mission  committee, 

298 
Universal  Fatherhood  of  God,  20 
Universal  peace,  331 
Universities  on  mission  fields,  234 
Unoccupied  fields,  109,  253 
Unoccupied  India,  254 

Vegetarian  diet,  144 
"Vestal  Virgins,"  218 

Warneck,   Dr.  Johan,  80,  128, 

140,  168,  190,  226 
Warneck,  Dr.  Gustav,  189 
Welsh  motto,  244 
Wesley  Guild,  300 
Wesley,  John,  326 
Western   Christians    in   the   East, 

272 
Widows  of  India,  207 
Widow  homes,  246 
Williams,  Sir  Monier,  75 
Williams  College,  304 
Wine  drinking,  145 
Woman  boards,  316 
Work  problems,  92 
World  obligation  to  service,  39 
World,  an  open,  56 
World  Saviour,  25 
World  Missionary  Conference,  177, 

287 
World  Student  Federation,  302 

Young  Turk,  210 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, 173.  301 

Young  People's  Missionary  Move- 
ment, 297 

Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, 301 


MISSIONARY 


The  World  Missionary  Conference 

The  Report  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference  held  in  Edinburgh 
in  1910.    In  nine  volumes,  each,  net  75c.;  the  complete  set 
of  nine  volumes,  net  $5.00. 
A  whole  missionary  library  by  experts  and.  wrought   up  to 
the  day  and  hour.     The  Conference. has  been  called  a  modern 
council  of  Nicea  and  the  report  the  greatest  missionary  pub- 
lication  ever   made. 

Vol.  1.  Carrying    the    Gospel.        Vol.  6.  The  Home   Base. 
Vol.  2.  The     Church     in     the^     Vol.  7.  Missions  and  Govern- 

Mission    Field.  '~  ments. 

Vol.  3.  Christian  Education.  Vol.  8.   Co-operation        and 

Vol.  4.  The   Missionary    Mes-  Unity. 

sage.  Vol.  9.  History,   Records  and 

Vol.  5.  Preparation     of    Mis-  Addresses, 

sionaries. 

Echoes  from  Edinburgh,  1910 

By  W.  H.  T.  Gairdner,  author  of'D.  M.  Thornton:' 
i2mo,  cloth,  net  $i.oo. 

The  popular  story  of  the  Conference — its  preparation — its 
management — its  effect  and  forecast  of  its  influence  on  the 
church  at  home  and  the  v^ork  abroad.  An  official  publication 
in  no  way  conflicting  with  the  larger  work — which  it  rather 
supplements. 

HENRY  H.  JESSUrs  AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

Fifty-three  Years  in  Syria 

Introduction  by  James  S.  Dennis.     Two  volumes,  illustrated, 

8vo,   cloth,  boxed,   net  $5.00. 

"A  rich  mine  of  information  for  the  liistorian,  the  eth- 
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labors  to  which  the  author  devoted  his  life.  A  thoroughly  in- 
teresting book  that  will  yield  endless  pickings." — A'^.  Y.  Sun, 

ROBERT  E.  SPEER 

Christianity  and  the  Nations 

The  Duff  Lectures  for  1910, 
8vo,    cloth,    net    $2.00. 

Among  the  many  notable  volumes  that  have  resulted 
from  the  well-known  Duff  foundation  Lectureship  this  new 
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in  Edinburgh,  Glasgow  and  Aberdeen,  will  rank  among  the 
most  important.  The  general  theme,  "Tbe  Reflex  Influence 
of  Missions  Upon  the  Nations,"  suggests  a  large,  important, 
and  most  interesting  work. 

G.    T.  B.  DAVIS 


Korea  for  Chri^ 

In  press. 

An  effective  report  of  the  recent  revivals  in  Korea  told  by 
an  eye  witness,  who  himself  participated  in  the  work. 


MISSIONARY 


JULIUS  RICHTER 

A  History  of  Protestant  Missions  in  the 

Near  East    svo,  cioth,  net  $2.50. 

A  companion  volume  to  "A  History  of  Missions  in  In- 
dia," by  this  great  authority.  The  progress  of  the  gospel  is 
traced  in  Asia  Minor,  Persia,  Arabia,  Syria,  and  Egypt. 
Non-sectarian    in    spirit,    thoroughly    comprehensive    in    scope. 

JOHN  P.  JONES,  P.P. 

The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge 

Yale  Lectures,   igio.      i2mo,    cloth,   net   $i.5o._ 

These  lectures,  by  the  author  of  "India's  Problem, 
Krisha  or  Christ?"  are  a  re-survey  of  the  demand  of  missions 
in  the  light  of  progress  made,  in  their  relation  to  human 
thought  The  new  difficulties,  the  new  incentives,  are  con- 
sidered by  one  whose  experience  in  the  field  and  as  a  writer, 
entitle    him   to    consideration. 

ALONZO  BUNKER,  P.P. 

Sketches  from  the  Karen  Hills 

Illustrated,    i2mo.    Cloth,   net  $i.oo. 

Ihese  descriptive  chapters  from  a  missionary's  life  in 
Burma  are  of  exceptional  vividness  and  rich  in  an  appre- 
ciation for  color.  His  pen  pictures  give  not  only  a  splendid 
insight  into  native  life,  missionary  work,  but  have  a  distinc- 
tive  literary   charm   which    characterizes  his    "Soo    Ihah." 

JAMES  F.  LOVE 

The  Unique  Message  and  Universal 
Mission  of  Christianity 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

A  volume  dealing  with  the  philosophy  of  missions  at 
once  penetrating  and  unusual.  It  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
original  and  valuable   contributions   to   the  subject  yet  made. 

WILLIAM  EPWARP  GARPNER 


Winners  of  the  World  During  Twenty 

Centuries       Adapted  for  Boys  and  Girls. 

A  Story  and  a  Study  of  Missionary  Effort  from  the  Time  of 
Paul  to  the  Present  Day.    Cloth,  net  6oc;  paper,  net  30c. 

Children's  Missionary  Series 

Illustrated  in  Colors,  Cloth,  Pecorated,  each,  net  60c. 

Children  of  Africa.    James  B.  Baird. 
Children  of  Arabia.    John  C.  Young. 
Children  of  China.    C.  Campbell  Brown. 
Children  of  India.    Janet  Harvey  Kelman. 


TRAVEL,  MISSIONARY 


H.  G.    UNDERWOOD 

The  Call  of  Korea 

New  Popular  Edition.  Paper,  net  350.  Regular  Edition, 
i2mo,  cloth,  net  750. 
"As  attractive  as  a  novel — packed  with  information.  Dr. 
Underwood  knows  Korea,  its  territory,  its  people,  and  its 
needs,  and  his  book  has  special  value  which  attaches  to  expert 
judgment.  Particularly  well  suited  to  serve  as  a  guide  to 
young  people  in  the  study  of  missions." — Examiner. 

WILLIAM  O.  CARVER 

Missions  in  the  Plan  of  the  Ages 

Bible  Studies  and  Missions.     i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

As  Professor  of  Comparative  Religion  and  Missions  in 
the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  at  Louisville,  Dr. 
Carver  has  prepared  in  these  chapters  the  fruit  of  many 
years'  study.  Ilis  aim  is  to  show  that  the  foundation  prin- 
ciples of  the  Christian  task  of  world  conquest  are  found  in 
the  Bible  not  so  much  in  the  guise  of  a  commanded  duty  as 
in  the  very  life  of  the  Christian  faith. 

ANNIE  L.   A.   BAIRD 

Daybreak  in  Korea 

Illustrated,  i6mo,  cloth,  net  60c. 

There  can  never  be  too  many  missionary  books  like  this. 
A  story  written  with  literary  skill,  the  story  of  a  girl's  life 
in  Korea,  her  unhappy  marriage  and  how  the  old,  old  story 
transformed  her  home.  It  reads  like  a  novel  and  most  of  all 
teaches  one,  on  every  page,  just  what  the  Gospel  means  to 
the  far  eastern  homes. 

ISABELLA   RIGGS  WILLIAMS 


By  the  Great  Wall 


Selected    Correspondence    of    Isabella    Riggs    Williams,    Mis- 
sionary   of    the    American    Board    to    China,     1866-1897. 
With  an  introduction  by  Arthur   H.    Smith.     Illustrated, 
121110,  cloth,   net   $1.50. 
"This  volume  is  a   little  window  opened  into   the   life   and 
work    of    an    exceptionally    equipped    missionary.     It    was    at 
Kalgan,    the    northern    gateway ''of    China,    that    a    misssion 
station    was    begun    amid    a    people    hard    and    unimpressible. 
It   was  here   that   Mrs.    Williams   won   the   hearts  of   Chinese 
women    and    girls;    here    that    she    showed    what    a    Christian 
home  may  be,  and  how  the   children  of  such   a  home  can  be 
trained  for  wide  and  unselfish   usefulness   wherever  their  1'  t 
is  cast.     No  object-lesson  is  more  needed  in  the  Celestial   Empire 
than  this.      Many    glimpses   of   that   patient   and  tireless   mis- 
sionary activity  which  makes  itself  all  things  to  all  men  are 
given.^' — Arthur  H.  Smith,  Author  of  Chinese  Characteristics^ 
Etc. 


MISSIONS,  HISTORICAL,  SCIENTIFIC 


OTIS  GARY 

A  History  of  Christianity  in  Japan 

Vo.    I.  A    History   of    Roman    Catholic   and    Greek    Orthodox 

Missions   in   Japan. 
Vol.  II.  A  History   of    Protestant   Missions  in  Japan. 

Each  8vo,  Cloth,  $2.50  net;  2  vols,  boxed  $5.00  net. 

Prof.  Harlan  P.  Beach,  of  Yale  University,  says  "lliis 
work  will  be  recognized  as  a  standard.  Dr.  Cary  is  one  of 
the  most  scholarly  among  the  entire  Japanese  Missionary 
force  and  his  thoroughness  and  intimate  knowledge  are  de- 
rived from  more  than  thirty  years'  residence  in  Japan." 

JULIUS  RICHTER 

The  History  of  Protestant  Missions 

in  India      svo,  cioth,  net  $2.50. 

"There  is  hardly  a  single  matter  connected  with  mis- 
sions in  India  upon  which  Dr.  Richter's  book  may  not  be 
consulted  with  the  certainty  of  finding  reliable  and  accurate 
information  and  sound  and  wise  judgment. — Chronicle  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society. 

I 
G.   CAMPBELL  MORGAN 

The  Missionary  Manifesto 

Being  a   Study  of  the   Great  Commission. 
i6mo,    Cloth,   net   75c. 

Dr.  Morgan's  forceful  and  illuminating  studies  find 
ready  welcome  among  thoughtful  readers  and  students.  His 
work  emphasizes  the  imperative  character  of  our  Lord's 
commands   and  its  accompanying  equipment   for   the  service. 

ROBERT  SLOAN"  LATIMER 

Liberty  of  Conscience  Under  Three 
Tsars 

A  Study  of  Evangelical  Effort  in  Russia  iSsd-igog.     X2mo, 

Cloth,   net  $1.50. 

This  struggle  for  liberty  of  conscience,  marked  by  in- 
tense devotion  and  sacrifice,  during  which  men,  women  and 
children  have  suffered  the  keenest  persecution,  counting 
not  their  lives  dear  unto  themselves,  is  replete  with  incidents 
that  awaken  the  largest  sympathy  and  admiration  of  those 
who  have  sought  to  be  true  to  conscience.  Tbe  record  is 
often  most  tragic,  and  can  but  awaken  sympathy  for  the  new 
movement  now  in  progress  in  that  land  so  long  barred 
against  the  light  of  the  open  Bible. 


Theological  Semtnary-Speer   Library 


1    1012  01119  0404 


Date  Due 


JUN.  15 


19S9 


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